By Mike Davey
Moncton, New Brunswick — June 13, 2016 — The competition at the Moncton Coliseum was fierce, but in the end it was Brandon Drover of Newfoundland who received the gold medal in the post-secondary category for Autobody Repair. Drover is a student at College of the North Atlantic and will now be invited to join Team Canada for the 2017 WorldSkills Competition, taking place in Abu Dhabi.
Every year, more than 500 young people from all regions of Canada come to the Skills Canada National Competition (SCNC) to participate in over 40 skilled trade and technology competitions. It isn’t an easy road. Students must compete at local, regional and provincial or territorial events to gain their place at SCNC.
Autobody Repair saw 15 students competing this year, across both secondary and post-secondary categories. The showing for Car Painting was almost as strong, with 14 competitors across both categories.
Johan Wiebe of Manitoba took the silver medal in post-secondary Autobody Repair. Roeloph Clements won the bronze.
In the secondary category for Autobody Repair, Alex Fortier of Quebec took the gold, while Kevin Messerschmidt of Manitoba and Braedon Thiffeault of British Columbia went home with the silver and bronze, respectively. Fortier will also be invited to join Team Canada for WorldSkills 2017.
Turning to Car Painting, Ashley Weber of Manitoba took the gold medal in the post-secondary competition, followed by Brodie Gibson of Ontario with the silver and Gheorghe Apopei of New Brunswick winning the bronze.
Dave Mercier of Quebec headed up the secondary competitors in Car Painting. Conrad Proszowski of Ontario and Julian Walsh of British Columbia took the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
SCNC 2017 will take place at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, from May 31 to June 3. For more information, please visit skillscompetencescanada.com.
