Apr 29, 2025

This is a very special week because Canada is about to discover who our next Prime Minister will be when the election results are tallied after April 28th. I assume, that you will be learning this about the same time as you’re reading our April 29th edition of Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest. In my life, I never recall a direct threat to Canada’s sovereignty like we’ve heard from Donald Trump. It’s hard to believe that the Republicans have only been in power for one hundred days. The world got turned upside down in little more than three months and it’s far from over.

But the big voter turnout in Canada has been gratifying. Plainly, Canadians don’t want to be the 51st state. We want our autonomy, we want our country to be the way it always was. Let’s hope new leadership calms the troubled waters. I’m sure that many of us are enthusiastically looking forward to vacationing and boating in Canada this summer. I have recently written that this is probably the best time in a long time, for people to buy a new boat. But it doesn’t have to be a brand-new boat. It could also be a used boat, or even an old boat that has been refurbished.

As you are reading this edition of News Week Digest, I am in London, Ontario at the Advanced Composites Training course for a weeklong, intense training in composites materials, boat and mold repair, and more. It would be great to have a boat with a glossy finish and like-new looks. I think that the appearance of the boat is a big part of the appeal and the pride of ownership. As a life-long antique boat fan, I know how beautiful a restored classic can be.

Another point; rebuilding or even replacing an old engine seems to be a lot better decision if the boat looks like new. Replacing the upholstery and canvas is also possible and the end result could be a like-new boat for far less money.

Additional point; restoring a good old boat keeps it safely on the water and out of the land fill. For marinas and repair yards, fiberglass restoration is environmentally smart and could be a great revenue generator too.

Advanced Composites Training offers hands-on training for real-world scenarios in-house at their internationally acclaimed facility. Their advanced technology courses are applicable across a multitude of industries from Automotive, Marine, Wind Energy, Infrastructure, and Robotics, to Aviation & Aerospace. Their award-winning Instructors go beyond to deliver a multifaceted understanding of composite technologies, structures, and materials. Check them out at https://advancedcompositestraining.ca

I’ll be writing about what I learned there in upcoming issues of News Week Digest.

Andy Adams – Editor