A firearm safety instructor in PEI for 25 years, Preston MacDonald of Lower Bedeque has been presented the Instructor of the Year Award. Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment Chester Gillan presented the award at the annual Firearm Safety - Hunter Education Banquet.
"Mr. MacDonald has made a tremendous contribution to hunter education in Prince Edward Island," said Minister Gillan. "Over the years, he has been involved in teaching 72 firearm safety courses, successfully training some 1,450 students."
An avid hunter and fisher and a past member of the East Prince Wildlife Federation, Mr. MacDonald taught his first gun safety course in the Kelvin Grove School in 1976.
This year's award recipient was one of the early instructors. In 1973, the first eight people were trained as firearm safety - hunter education instructors for Prince Edward Island. Today, there are approximately 45 active instructors training 300 to 400 people each year.
Minister Gillan said the goal today is the same as it was in 1973 – to not only train individuals in the proper and safe use of firearms and ethical and responsible behaviour as hunters, but to help them understand the important role they play in wildlife management and conservation.
"Without the dedication of instructors like Mr. MacDonald, who devote their time on weekends to deliver the training, we would simply not be able to achieve those goals," he added.
Across North America, statistics show the number of hunting accidents has declined since firearm safety programs have been initiated. In Prince Edward Island, there have been two fatal hunting accidents in the last 30 years – one in 1973 and the other in 1981 – and less than a dozen injury accidents.