Nunavut’s red-serge brigade

MIRIAM HILL

The RCMP will soon have more Inuit faces in uniform.

On Oct. 10, 11 Inuit cadets graduated from the cadet training program in Regina.

Cpl. Jean-Marc Nadeau, manager for northwest region recruiting services in Iqaluit, is responsible for recruiting across the entire territory. He explained in the fall of 2001, the commanding officer of V-division made a commitment to recruiting Inuit members into the RCMP.

To achieve that, the RCMP’s Inuit Recruiting and Development Program was created and Insp. Doug Reti was brought up from Ottawa to run it.

Thirty-five possible applicants were identified from all over Nunavut through a process of selection that involved physical and medical testing, and 15 cadets were sent to the training academy in April.

“They were put in a troop that we commonly refer to as Troop 2, and underwent the cadet training program, which is the same program that any of our applicants undergo in order to become RCMP officers,” Nadeau said. “We did that for support purposes and so on.”

In Regina they undergo a 22-week cadet program, which includes role-playing, performance demonstrations, lectures, panel discussions, and community interaction.

They study police defence tactics, drill, police driving, firearms, and applied police science, which includes learning how to build a file and learning to conduct an investigation from the time the complaint comes in to attendance at court.

Over the six-month training period four cadets dropped out of the program.

“On average in a troop of 24, we lose usually one or two,” Nadeau said. “Our goal was to shoot for zero losses, but we can’t control that.”

At the graduation ceremony, attended by family members, RCMP officials, Justice Minister Paul Okalik, and his assistant deputy minister, Simon Awa, the cadets, dressed in their red-serge uniforms, did Nunavut proud.

The graduates are: Sylvia Sharp of Rankin Inlet; George Henrie of Rankin Inlet; Teena Palluq of Clyde River; Kipanik Eegeesiak of Iqaluit; Russell Akeeaguk of Iqaluit; Michael Salomonie of Cape Dorset; Jamie Savikataaq of Arviat; Nathan MacKay of Kugluktuk; James Mearns of Pangnirtung; David Lawson of Pangnirtung; and Annie Keenainak of Pangnirtung.

“Keen? My God, that’s an understatement,” Nadeau said of the graduates’ attitude.

In a statement made during the legislature’s last sitting in Pangnirtung, Okalik recognized the graduates for their perseverance.

“These individuals are a fine example as role models for our young people in Nunavut,” he said. “These individuals will complement our current Inuit officers, the majority of whom are able to communicate in our first language and are familiar with our own culture.”

Nadeau said two of the members, Michael Salomonie and Nathan MacKay, would be sworn in immediately as regular RCMP members because they have completed all their requirements.

The remaining nine will attend scholastic upgrading in their home communities because they did not pass an entry exam originally written last January, but were very close.

Once they’re sworn in, the members are asked to commit to three or four years in the territory, like any other regular member.

“But we certainly won’t be holding them back once that commitment is complete,” Nadeau said, adding he encourages them to take a southern transfer for development purposes.