Nunavut cops may get reinforcements

IQALUIT — Within months the number of RCMP constables in Nunavut could increase by as much as 10 per cent.

Premier Paul Okalik confirmed, in the Nunavut legislative assembly this week, that a review of the territory’s policing needs is underway.

When this review is completed, the RCMP will request an increase in the numbers of members serving the territory’s communities.

At present, there are 87 regular RCMP officers in Nunavut. Of these, 23 are in Iqaluit, seven are in Rankin Inlet and five are in Cambridge Bay.

The RCMP is expected to call for at least eight new constables.

But even before this review is completed, Coral Harbour is slated to receive a second constable who will also serve Repulse Bay.

“We’re looking at it from the standpoint of member safety,” said Staff Sgt. Mike O’Malley of the Iqaluit detachment.

On March 5, RCMP Const. Jurgen Seewald was fatally shot in Cape Dorset when he responded alone to a domestic violence call.

Prior to this incident, officials from Nunavut’s justice department had said the numbers of RCMP were sufficient, despite concerns raised by some RCMP members about the potential dangers of working alone or without enough backup.

Only two out of four of the RCMP members assigned to Cape Dorset were actually in the community at the time of the shooting.

Currently there is no RCMP presence at all in some communities, such as Chesterfield Inlet, Whale Cove and Repulse Bay. Only one constable is posted in Coral Harbour, Kimmirut, Kugaaruk and Grise Fiord.

O’Malley said the RCMP wants communities with only one constable to have two.

“I don’t think it’s excessive given the argument of the social problems and the high birth rate,” O’Malley said. “These communities are only growing.”

O’Malley suggested a pool of additional constables may also be stationed in Iqaluit whose members would be available to fill in for absent RCMP constables in the communities.

The increase in RCMP numbers will cost the Nunavut government.

It pays for 70 per cent of the cost of police services in Nunavut, while the federal government picks up the other 30 per cent of the cost.