Policing is never an easy profession to enter, but for a group of young Indigenous people from across Canada, they are one step closer to joining the RCMP.
On Friday, the RCMP Academy in Regina hosted its Indigenous pre-cadet training program graduation.
The program is meant to bring together First Nations, Inuit and Métis people from across Canada, to learn and have a hands-on experience of what a career in policing looks like.
One of those students is 22-year-old Carver Nadjiwon-Foster, who is originally from Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, also known as Cape Croker First Nation in Ontario.
He said policing has always been in his family.
“My grandfather was a World War II veteran, so we have military and police service in my family,” Nadjiwon-Foster explained. “So, it’s something that I’d like to continue.”
The camp wasn’t a walk in the park, however, as Nadjiwon-Foster said it was both mentally and physically demanding.
Get breaking National news
“It definitely was not summer camp,” he said, recalling his time in the program. “It was tough at times with the fitness components, writing reports, doing paperwork, stuff like that. It was definitely a learning experience, and I have learned a lot of skills.”
For Kayley Quinney-Cardinal, from Frog Lake First Nation in Alberta, she is currently a firefighter back home, but after working with RCMP on assignments, she was intrigued to join.
She said representing Indigenous people in law enforcement is very important moving forward.
“As an Indigenous woman, I would love to go back home and be a role model for my youth and my members,” she explained. “To show there is a space for Indigenous people in the RCMP community.”
During the training program, Indigenous exercises were held including making a teepee.
Cpl. Maureen Greyeyes-Brant, who graduated from the program in 1999, said more than two-thirds of the students who full graduate apply to the organization.
She said for herself, and many students, enrolling in the program is about representation and also just doing the right thing.
“I wanted to do something for myself and also for my Indigenous communities, but I also wanted to help,” Greyeyes-Brant said. “I want people to find their forever careers.”
Comments