Scanning the rosters at the 2025 Canadian Curling Club championship this week in Winnipeg, one name jumps out: Bill Gates.
No, it’s not that Bill Gates, the American businessman, philanthropist, and one of the wealthiest people on earth.
Nope, it’s good, ol’ Bill Gates from Saint John, New Brunswick, the 65-year-old vice-president of Ocean Steel & Construction Ltd., father of one 26-year-old daughter, and a member in good standing at the Thistle Curling Club in his hometown.
Still, while he may be about as normal as one can be, going through life as Bill Gates must have its, um, ups and downs. On the plus side, it might help to bypass the waiting list at a fancy new restaurant, but what about all the confused looks doing day-to-day business?
“People are always friendly to me,” says Gates, who is throwing third stones for Team New Brunswick skip Bob Sherrard this week at the venerable Granite Club. “Just checking into the hotel it’s like ‘I was waiting for you to call because I saw your name there.’
“It’s an icebreaker, I guess.”
Gates smiles when he recounts some of his more eventful interactions with others over his name, including the times he dealt with an American customer on the phone.
“One guy would call and say ‘I want to talk to the richest man in the world’. That’s not me. When people ask me ‘are you Bill Gates?’, I answer yes, I’m the poor one. I call myself the poor Bill Gates.”
Sharing a name with a well-known other can be tricky. Gates is lucky. The American billionaire is a good guy who shares his wealth with others through the Gates Foundation.
Gates is also thankful for his opportunity to share in a national spotlight this week as grassroots players from every province and territory in Canada, plus Northern Ontario, compete for a national championship. If he can, he’d like to give back to the sport by volunteering when Saint John plays host to the 2027 BKT World Men’s Curling Championship, March 27-April 4, at TD Station.
“Absolutely. We’ve had two world championships and I volunteered for both of them. I’ve done a lot of stats, doing the scoring. It’s a great time. I just want to be around it,” says the good-natured Maritimer.
Team New Brunswick (0-1, Saint John), rounded out by second Mike Martin and lead Danny McDonald, stumbled out of the gate Tuesday afternoon, losing its Pool A opener 5-4 to skip Dustin Mikkelsen’s Team Yukon (1-0, Whitehorse).
Team New Brunswick, basically a Masters team, does have some serious experience behind it. Gates, who was picked up as a fill-in for this event, has already appeared in two Canadian Senior and Masters events. He also played in the 2021 Club Championship.
In other Pool A men’s opening games, Team Alberta’s Sterling Hansen (1-0, Calgary) posted a 6-3 win over Donovan Arey’s Team Northwest Territories (0-1, Inuvik), while Team Ontario’s Bryan Cochraine (1-0, Russell) hung up a 9-4 win over Team Newfoundland & Labrador’s Mark Noseworthy (0-1, St. John’s).
In Pool B play, Team Nova Scotia’s Sebastien LeFort (1-0, Sydney) earned an 8-3 win over Team Nunavut’s Peter Mackey (0-1, Iqaluit), Team Northern Ontario’s Jordan Chandler (1-0, Little Current) eased past Team British Columbia’s Mitch Young (0-1, Cranbrook) 6-3, while Team Prince Edward Island’s Dennis Watts (1-0, Cornwall) prevailed 8-2 over skip Ghislain Doyon’s Team Quebec (0-1, Val-d’Or).
Women’s Pool A and Pool B opening games were scheduled for the evening draw at 8 p.m., (all times Central).
The fields are divided into two pools of seven teams. After the round robin, the top four teams from each pool will play in a double knockout that will qualify four teams to the medal round on the weekend.
Both gold-medal games will be played Sunday at 3 p.m.
Qualifiers will be ranked to determine placement.
For event live scores, roster information and live streaming, CLICK HERE.
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