Yarmouth Resident Wins Medal

Patrick Doucette of Yarmouth was one of three Nova Scotians to win a medal at the recent Canadian Skills Competition in Vancouver. Mr. Doucette is employed by Garian Construction and a student at the Burridge Campus of the Nova Scotia Community College. He was awarded a bronze medal in the carpentry category after testing his skills against his peers from across the country.

One-thousand finalists, representing the 10 provinces and two territories, took part in the Olympic-style competition. Nova Scotia was represented by 15 students and apprentices chosen through provincial and regional competitions held early in April.

The other Nova Scotian medalists were Rebecca Park of Halifax and Dana McCarthy of Barrington. Ms. Park won a bronze for her efforts in ladies hair dressing. Mr. McCarthy made the medal podium in the plumbing category.

The event was an excellent opportunity for the students to measure their skills against industry standards and the rest of Canada. "The competition really showed you how much you can achieve," said Mr. Doucette.

"The whole experience was exhilarating," added Ms. Park.

The competition was sponsored by the Department of Education & Culture and Human Resources Development Canada through Skills Canada - Nova Scotia, a not-for-profit provincial association of businesses, government, labour groups, educators and students.

Tina Kelly-Garnett, executive director of Skills Canada - Nova Scotia, said Nova Scotians can be proud of the entire group.

"The opportunity to show Canada the talent we have here in our province was tremendous. The skills and spirit displayed by these young Nova Scotians would make any parent, employer, educator or government proud."