Top Mountie takes total immersion approach to Nunavut

New commander meets subordinates, community leaders

By CHRIS WINDEYER

RCMP V Division Supt. Steve McVarnock in his Iqaluit office, July 28, 2009. He took over as Nunavut's fifth division commander in June, taking over from Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)


RCMP V Division Supt. Steve McVarnock in his Iqaluit office, July 28, 2009. He took over as Nunavut’s fifth division commander in June, taking over from Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)

For the first couple of months of his tenure, Steve McVarnock will be a travelling man.

The new commander of RCMP’s V Division, sworn in late last month, says his new job as Nunavut’s top police officer is to get out and meet as many people as possible, in as many places as possible.

McVarnock said he’s been travelling throughout Nunavut since his first day on the job, June 12, meeting community leaders and rank and file Mounties. By the end of July he’d been to eight Nunavut communities.

“I want to have all the detachments visited in the next four weeks,” he said.

But when McVarnock gets home, he’ll likely see even more demand for face time.

The Northern Ireland-born, 28-year veteran takes over from Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, seen by some as aloof, and whose regime faced criticism for not doing enough to combat Iqaluit’s growing drug problem, even though the division commander’s role makes him responsible for policing across the territory.

One of those critics is Iqaluit city councillor Allen Hayward. Two years ago Hayward accused the RCMP of “not being very helpful” in tackling the city’s drug problems.

But he’s more optimistic after the change of command.

“There were a lot of pressing problems that were never addressed in Iqaluit and seeing this guy [McVarnock] immediately have some kind of impact, it shows to officials and the general public who called for action that something can get done,” Hayward said.

One of McVarnock’s first acts was to engineer Take Back The Night, a show of force by police, bylaw and liquor enforcement officers that included roadblocks and visits to bars.

McVarnock won’t criticize his predecessor and says it was as much about “operational readiness” and getting Mounties working together, which is especially important given the recent high turnover of officers.

“Basically it’s just to serve notice that we are here and we will do our jobs,” he said.

Hayward such events serve as a reminder to criminals that someone’s watching.

“This new leaf being turned over will help everyone, from the beat cop to the general public.”

McVarnock, who has served in several detachments around the North for about nine years, including a stint in Iqaluit back in 1982, said he also wants to boost the number of Inuit who work for the RCMP. That means more “gun-and-badge” officers, but also dispatch staff and community constables.

He said V Division also wants to hire more frontline, Inuktitut-speaking workers in larger communities outside of the three regional hubs of Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.

McVarnock also said eight of the 16 vacant officers positions have recently been filled and that the divisions was looking at ways to entice more officers to come and stay north, though he wouldn’t go into details.

“When we start an initiative, we don’t want to start it to fail,” he said.

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