My Career in the RCMP - 1973 to 2011

“N” Division 1973 (Ottawa)

I was sworn into the RCMP on June 22nd, 1973 in Regina and headed off to Ottawa for French language training. We were a troop of 32 recruits, half English and half French. We learned passable French/English by November and were sent to Regina for recruit training. On a hot and muggy day, the Sergeant Major tasked me and another recruit to locate a mounted bison head in an old hangar building, clean the cobwebs off with a broom and return it to the cafeteria where it was hung on a wall. As we knew where this thing had been and the cleanliness for the previous decades, we never ate meals anywhere near it!

Recruit Training at Depot 1973/74 (Regina)

Training at Depot lasted 6 cold months, from November to May. I was appointed the troop’s Right Marker. Foot drill was a favourite class. We worked hard, were occasionally confined to barracks and punished as a team, as a learning experience. The memories and friendships formed at Depot will last a life-time.

First Detachment 1974/75 (St. Jerome, Quebec)

My first posting for recruit field training and French development was Montreal and then onto St. Jerome. In my spare time I curled and learned to ski. Myself and three colleagues won the provincial police curling championships held in Quebec City and represented the province in the national championship in 2006. We didn’t win but sure had fun. I continued with university classes at Sir George Williams University and Loyola University in Montreal.

Montreal Olympics 1976

I was transferred to Montreal to work on the summer Olympic games. Our accommodations were in the old RCMP HQ Building right next door to the Forum. I was assigned to three security teams over the course of the Olympics: HM Queen Elizabeth, Prince of Iran and the West Germany Interior Minister. It was an exciting time to be in Montreal. Following the Olympics, I was transferred to Cardston, Alberta.

Alberta 1976/87 (Cardston, Lethbridge, Calgary)

Cardston detachment policing area was large and very busy. The summers of 1977 and 1978 were spent at the Waterton Lakes National Park detachment with four members sharing the historic residence/detachment building. In the fall of 1978 I was transferred to Lethbridge Highway Patrol for a year and then to the Commercial Crime Section. As a commercial crime investigator our files were document intensive and time consuming. In 1982 I was transferred to Calgary Commercial Crime and promoted to corporal targeting assets gained from criminality. For investigations I travelled across Canada, the US and Hong Kong to gather evidence.

While in Cardston and Lethbridge I completed a BA degree from the University of Lethbridge and a computer programming program from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and was assigned to the Calgary Olympic Winter Games security planning office in 1986.

Our Growing Family

Alice: In June 1984 I met the love of my life Alice Slot at the Royal Bank of Canada where she worked as a loans officer. I was captivated at first sight and asked her out for lunch. Six months later in December 1984 we were engaged and on June 22nd, 1985 we were married in Calgary.

Mark: On December 1st, 1987 Mark was born at the Riverside Hospital in Ottawa. Our baby skills and knowledge increased daily as we had no family to lend a hand or to part baby knowledge…a blessing in disguise.

Craig: On April 15th, 1990 Craig was also born at the Riverside Hospital in Ottawa. Alice went on a four-month maternity leave from the Bank. Maternity leave did not exist for spouses at that time.

Jill: On a return trip from Ottawa, I met Alice in Quebec City for a couple of day’s vacation. We celebrated our new pregnancy at the Chateau Frontenac. On September 21st, 1992 Jillian was born at the Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton.

Ottawa 1987/92

In the summer of 1987 we were transferred to Ottawa and I was promoted to Sergeant in the Informatics Unit of “A” Division (operations). Alice was transferred to the Bell’s Corners branch of the Royal Bank. We settled into Ottawa with our growing family.

Foreign Liaison

After showing an interest for a number of years, Alice and I were interviewed in 1989 for a Foreign Services posting. I was transferred to the Ottawa office responsible for the six RCMP posts in Asia with a plan that we would be posted to Hong Kong. Our plans changed when I was Commissioned to an officer rank and transferred to New Brunswick.

New Brunswick 1990/98 (Fredericton)

In 1990 I was promoted Inspector in Fredericton, responsible for the Informatics program initially, then Commercial Crime and finally Federal Policing program. Along with work was the interesting role of Aide de Camp to the Lieutenant Governor of NB. We enjoyed New Brunswick very much and made great friends. Mark and Craig started school at New Maryland Elementary School. Jillian was born at the Chalmers Hospital in 1992 and also started school at NMES.

This was a time of change for us. Alice started working with the Royal Bank in Calgary and then transferred to Ottawa. As there was not an equivalent position in Fredericton, Alice left the Bank and focussed on the well being and stability of our kids and our family, a sacrifice not always appreciated.

Newfoundland and Labrador 1998/2013 (St. John’s)

1998 we moved to St. John’s, NL where I became the Criminal Operations Officer. We looked at this as an adventure for a few years: Mark was in grade 6, Craig in grade 4 and Jill in grade 2.

From 1998 to 2011, my career took me through the officers’ ranks in NL: Superintendent, Chief Superintendent and Assistant Commissioner as Commanding Officer. Work changed and the ability to make a difference became greater.

The RCMP 48 detachments were spread across Labrador and the island. The ability for Alice and the kids to travel with me as opportunities allowed was an exciting adventure. We travelled to Nain and Hopedale, attended the Arctic Winter Games in Happy Valley Goose Bay, and made official visits to St. Pierre and Miquelon. Craig travelled to Hopedale where he saw a hunted polar bear carcass being shared amongst the community. Mark travelled to Davis Inlet in northern Labrador. Jill travelled to the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon.

Alice joined the Board of Directors of Cygnus Gymnastic Training Centre in St. John’s and then became Executive Director. While in Newfoundland and Labrador Mark, Craig and Jill went through their schooling and each graduated from Memorial University in St. John’s.

St. Pierre and Miquelon

The French islands are an integral part of the history of southern Newfoundland. Interaction between the RCMP and Gendarmerie Nationale became quite integrated through personnel exchanges, cross training with police vessels, sharing of facilities, etc. In 2009 I received the Medaille d’Or de la Defence Nationale Gendarmerie from the French Ambassador at a ceremony at the embassy in Ottawa for facilitating the advancement.

9/11

November 11th, 2001 will be forever remembered. Early in the morning we became aware of a terrorist incident happening in the US. Not knowing what was to come, our emergency operation centre and resources were activated. All air travel was diverted between North America and Europe. Canada redirected all aircraft away from the heavily populated cities. Due to NL’s strategic location to Europe, the RCMP became very involved. 39 large aircraft of many nationalities with 9,000 passengers landed in Gander, a town of 10,000 people and others in Stephenville, Deer Lake, Goose Bay, St. John’s, and elsewhere in Canada.

RCMP members facilitated the deplaning and processing of passengers. As aircraft were being deplaned, the passengers were “adopted” by Newfoundland communities in the Gander area to spread out the impact. The rest of the story is best told in the acclaimed Broadway play “Come From Away”. After nearly 7 years as CO, I moved to International Policing.

Senior Envoy to Mexico and The Americas 2009/11 (International Policing)

In 2009 I was appointed Senior Envoy to Mexico and The Americas as Canada’s representative on AMERIPOL and point person to prioritize/oversee Canada’s police capacity building efforts in the Caribbean, Central and South America. My work site was Ottawa with Foreign Affairs Canada however we remained living in St. John’s and I travelled extensively.

Retirement

By the summer of 2011 Alice and I decided that it was time to retire and move onto the next phase of our lives. Our children were well into their university years and on their way to their careers. On September 1st, 2011, 38 years and 3 months after I joined, I retired from the RCMP.

We loved every place where we were stationed and made many friends. Calgary was where Alice and I met, in Ottawa and Fredericton our kids were born and in St. John’s they completed schooling. The deciding factor was family as Alice’s Mom lived in Claresholm, Alberta and my Dad in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. In 2013 we moved to Calgary.

Conclusion

I look back at my career in the RCMP and wouldn’t change anything. All across Canada we saw new and exciting things, made wonderful friends and raised a family in great places. Alice was supportive and was the stabilizing factor in our family for our children and myself. You should never look back and wish it had been this way or that way, you can only ask whether it was the right thing. I think it was!