Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament representing the community of New Waterford, it gives me great pleasure to rise today and congratulate the town on its centennial year.
This past weekend I was pleased to attend an event honouring some of the town's seniors who have contributed greatly to their community. Over the last 100 years, New Waterford has faced some challenges. It was once one of the busiest coal-mining communities and home to No. 16 colliery, one of the biggest and best coal mines in Canada, which was shut down in 1963.
New Waterford is home to many great traditions from the Coal Dust Days to Davis Day to the Coal Bowl Classic basketball tournament, just to name a few. It is the residents' strong sense of pride for their community that attracts visitors, local and away, year after year to New Waterford.
I say congratulations to all of the volunteers and organizations who have worked so tirelessly to make a difference and to make the centennial celebrations possible.
I look forward to taking part in the festivities throughout this summer and invite my colleagues, especially the member for Charlottetown and his wife Kathleen, to these festivals.