Mr. Speaker, over the past week in Sydney, Cape Bretoners have been hurrying hard to Centre 200 to take in the 2019 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Centre 200's hockey rink has been transformed into a curling sheet to host Canada's best women curlers as they compete for the right to represent our country at the 2019 World Championship in Denmark. I had the pleasure to join these curlers last Saturday at the kickoff and to throw the first rock, and it landed well.
Organizing this event was no small task. I am proud that our federal government was a major sponsor, as well as the province of Nova Scotia, the Cape Breton regional municipality and, of course, the corporate sponsors and local businesses that came together to support this great tournament.
I congratulate the organizers and volunteers on a job well done. I would like to send my thanks to Cape Bretoners for their warm welcome of so many teams and tourists from across Canada.
There will only be one team that will sweep the trophy. I wish all the teams good luck and, most important, have fun.