Okotoks police officers and support staff stood proud on Saturday as they received much-deserved recognition for their hard work.
Mayor Bill Robertson presented certificates and offered words of thanks to about a dozen RCMP officers and support staff during Okotoks’ inaugural Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day at the Southridge Emergency Services building.
The Town proclaimed Feb. 1 as Royal Canadian Mounted Police Day following an initiative that began with elementary school students.
St. Mary’s School principal Brandon Bailey said he brought the idea of a day to recognize emergency services personnel to Grade 6 leadership students almost a year ago and the students soon began writing letters to Okotoks council.
“It fits in with the curriculum in terms of social studies outcomes,” said Bailey. “It’s also a huge part of what we teach and practice in our school.”
Robertson met with the students and, in September, the Town and council sponsored a resolution at the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association conference to have Feb. 1 declared RCMP Appreciation Day province-wide.
Council passed a proclamation last month, and on Saturday celebrated 100 years of RCMP in Canada.
“Our proclamation is founded in Canadian pride dating back to 1873 when the Parliament of Canada established a police force named the North-West Mounted Police,” Robertson told those in attendance on Saturday. “In 1919, parliament voted to form a national police force by merging the North-West Mounted Police and the Dominion Police of Eastern Canada, which became the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Feb. 1, 1920.”
Protective Services director Kelly Stienwand said he’s pleased that council, led by Robertson, chose to honour the RCMP with an appreciation day.
“This is a really important day for our community,” he said. “My father was an RCMP member and I have a great appreciation for the hard work and commitment they have for public safety around the country.”
Stienwand said the proclamation speaks to the pride citizens have for the great things officers and support staff do to keep communities safe.
“Our citizens around the country have a great pride and support for law enforcement agencies,” he said. “Even our support staff are some of the hardest-working people. They carry the weight of it and take hard calls.”
Trevor Daroux, chief superintendent district officer for Southern Alberta, gave kudos to the RCMP in its role for making Okotoks a safe community.
Okotoks was ranked one of the safest communities in Alberta and 188 out of 237 Canadian municipalities on Maclean’s magazine’s list of the most dangerous places in the country last year.
“Being ranked like that doesn’t happen by accident or from policing alone,” said Daroux. “It’s working with community with the strong leadership that’s shown here.”
He described the community-wide recognition as “an incredible honour.”
“You start every day doing the very best you can and a lot of time what you do doesn’t go recognized but that’s not why you do it,” he told members. “We always look at policing and say, ‘What does success look like?’ When a community group says you are doing a great job, to me it says the members are doing the things they need to be doing.”
Okotoks RCMP Sgt. Sukh Randhawa said while RCMP members and staff receive compliments from time to time, they aren’t used to this kind of recognition.
“When the community comes out and thanks the RCMP it goes a long way,” he said. “Our members are working very hard to keep the community safe. They’re being recognized for their hard work and the service they are providing to the community.”
Back at St. Mary’s School, the feeling of pride Bailey has for the officers also extends to those eager students who were busy writing letters to council almost a year ago.
“It was an opportunity for the students to see that hard work result in a dedication here in January, to see how they can make a difference,” he said.
