Commanding Officer Rhonda Blackmore speaking with recruits. (Facebook/Saskatchewan RCMP)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Hiring Indigenous

Multiple Indigenous people take part in first-of-its-kind Sask. RCMP recruitment initiative

Feb 19, 2023 | 10:00 AM

The Saskatchewan RCMP recently held a first-of-its-kind event aimed at getting more Indigenous people interested in joining the police force.

Earlier this month, they held a three-day recruiting session in Regina with 36 individuals from across the province taking part. This included people from La Ronge, Meadow Lake, Prince Albert, and Red Earth Cree Nation.

This initiative was undertaken by the Indigenous Recruiting Unit which was officially created in August 2022. The unit’s goal is self-explanatory, hire more Indigenous people.

“Many of the communities we police are Indigenous or have Indigenous communities within the areas we police, so we need our organization to reflect the communities we police in,” said Constable Kim Gobeil, a member of the Indigenous Recruiting Unit.

This is not the first time the Saskatchewan RCMP have emphasized hiring Indigenous people, though it is the first in a long time. Between 2000 and 2002, three all-Indigenous troops were trained with many choosing to work for the RCMP. There was reportedly a lot of confusion, especially from Commanding Officer Rhonda Blackmore, as to why this was stopped.

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Gobeil added adding more Indigenous officers will only have positive impacts.

“This is a step towards reconciliation and if Indigenous communities go to self-administered policing this could be a stepping-stone for one of these applicants.”

He also noted having officers who can speak Cree and other languages are very beneficial due to the high Indigenous population across Saskatchewan.

The 36 people who took part in the three-day recruitment initiative got the chance to hear from Indigenous leaders who provided words of support.

They included 2^nd Vice Chief Edward “Dutch” Lerat and Jason Stonechild from the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) and Russ Mirasty, the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan and a former member of the RCMP.

Meanwhile, the RCMP are planning on holding another session sometime later this spring after the success of the first one.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow