Honourable senators, an accomplished daughter of Nova Scotia left us this week. Colleen Jones, sadly, passed away at the too young age of 65.

Nova Scotians knew Colleen for many decades as a broadcast journalist, but Canadians and, eventually, the world knew her as one of the best curlers that this country of great curlers has ever produced.

And what a champion she was. Just listen to the list of her curling accomplishments. In a 38-year span between 1979 and 2017, she did the following: She won the Nova Scotia Junior Women’s Championship twice, the first time when she was 19 years of age. She would later in life win the Nova Scotia Senior Women’s title three times. She won the Nova Scotia mixed title eight times and won the Nova Scotia Women’s Championship itself an astonishing 15 times.

But winning at the provincial level is not like winning at the national level. High-level national curling in Canada calls for great skill under pressure — and it is world-class curling.

Traditionally, Nova Scotia wins in national curling competitions had always been a rarity — until Colleen Jones came along. Colleen kicked the door open. At age 22, she became the youngest woman to ever skip and win the national women’s championship. She would go on to win the Canadian women’s title six times, including an unprecedented and unequalled four straight championships from 2001 to 2005. In total, she would compete in a record 21 national women’s championships, also winning the Canadian Mixed Curling Championships twice and later a Canadian Senior Women’s Championship.

Colleen would represent Canada at six world championships, winning twice: .333 is always a really good batting average. When she won the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship in 2017, it gave her the opportunity to win one of the few titles that ever eluded her — the World Senior Women’s Championship. And of course, she won, and her rink did it in style, undefeated for the entire tournament. What a competitor she was.

Colleen was a member of the Canadian Curling Hall of Fame, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Order of Canada. In 2018, when Nova Scotians were asked to rate our 15 greatest athletes of all time, Collen finished second, but only to Sidney Crosby. That’s pretty good company to be keeping.

Colleen was one of nine children; she had seven sisters and a brother, or, as Colleen liked to say, “two curling teams and a spare.”

On behalf of the Senate of Canada, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Colleen’s husband, Scott Saunders; her sons, Zach and Luke; her grandson; her many siblings; and the extended family. She left quite a mark in the 65 years she was with us. Colleen made Nova Scotians proud.

Thank you, Colleen, for everything you did. God rest your soul and let perpetual light shine upon you.