Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Jan 19/00) - Cpl. Al McLauchlan of the RCMP detachment in The Pas, Manitoba, is a big believer in sports being a major weapon again juvenile crime in Northern communities.

McLauchlan has been policing for 25 years in northern Manitoba.

His detachment has collected used sports equipment for the past four years for distribution to needy communities.

McLauchlan has also been involved with a number of sporting programs in Northern communities and has seen first-hand the positive effects they provide.

He speaks of a northern Manitoba town called Island Lake, populated by First Nations peoples.

Island Lake traditionally has a high juvenile crime rate in the summer because, it is believed, the kids have very little in the way of constructive activities to occupy their time.

The RCMP and a group of physical education students at the University of Manitoba teamed up to create a series of Northern Fly-in Sports Camps.

McLauchlan says the results were incredible.

"These people would go into the communities and not only run programs, but teach a local person how to set up and run programs themselves," says McLauchlan.

"The summer the camp was run at Island Lake, the crime rate dropped by 50 per cent.

"The kids would be up first thing in the morning and you wouldn't see them at night because they'd be home resting for the next day.

"Elected officials in the North have to realize they need to come up with things for kids to do.

"If an activity turns one kid around, it's worth every bit of effort that goes into it."

Baker Lake RCMP detachment commander Cpl. Tim Walton agrees whole-heartedly with McLauchlan's assessment.

"We have the same problem in Baker when it comes to not being enough equipment around to meet the needs of all the kids who want to play and that's a shame," says Walton.

Walton says, in general, the more kids have to do, the better.

He says sports also teaches important lifeskills.

"The big advantage to having local kids involved with sports is that it teaches them co-operation, teamwork and a sense of fair play.

"When it comes to crime, sports also teaches them about consequences to their actions.

"When they break the rules, they pay the consequence of getting a penalty and that's the same type of thing when it comes to committing a crime. You have to face the consequences."