NUNAVUT - RCMP officers will be stationed in Nunavut for four years instead of two, based on a decision made by the territory's top cop in October.

RCMP V division commander Supt. Steve McVarnock in his office in Iqaluit on Nov. 3, 2009. McVarnock and other officials decided to increase RCMP terms in Nunavut to four years. - Kassina Ryder/NNSL photo

"I made that decision based on consultation with headquarters in Edmonton," said Supt. Steve McVarnock, commander of RCMP V Division .

Officers will spend two years in a community then rotate to another community within the territory for the remaining two years, McVarnock said. But, if an officer in Iqaluit wanted to join a specialized unit in Iqaluit, that option could be made available.

"You could do two years in Iqaluit and move on to a specialized unit depending on what opportunities are at the time," he said.

Officers who complete the first two years in a two-unit detachment in a smaller community will have the opportunity to finish their term in a detachment with more members, or vice versa. This will help reduce officer burnout, McVarnock said.

"These members that are in small communities, especially two-member posts, you live it 24/7 you don't get a break," he said. "Two years they can do it, then they need a change. They can go to Rankin Inlet or Cambridge Bay where you're not there 24/7, you do get nights off because you have more members there."

The increase will mean officers will have more time to become familiarized with Inuit culture and strengthen relationships with communities, McVarnock said.

"If you're coming up every two years then going back South, that's a lot of cultural orientation that you're going through and you lose that connectedness to the community," he said.

Cape Dorset mayor Carey Merritt said he agreed officers spending more time in the territory is good, but it still means communities will lose RCMP officers after two years.

"It's not going to resolve the problem for a community losing that connection," he said. "To me, it would probably be better if (the four-year term) was just in one community because they get to know the citizens."

Merritt said the relationship between municipal council and RCMP, along with community members, would be better strengthened if officers were placed in one community for a longer term.

"They pay monthly visits to our council meetings to give us updates," he said. "It also gives us a chance to give them some feedback."

"When they're moving out every two years you're starting over."

McVarnock said the extension means more officers who want to join specialized units such as the drug unit or emergency response team can be trained in the south then return to Nunavut. The two-year term often prevented the division from retaining permanent specialized officers, McVarnock said.

"What we did find was we were losing a lot of continuity of expertise within the territory," he said. "If you get somebody up in the division who has been here for eight or nine months and they have an interest in going in the drug section, it's pretty hard to invest a lot of time and money into them to know you're going to lose them in a little over a year. What you're basically doing is training them for another province or territory."

McVarnock said one of the most important aspects of the change will be increasing the capability of the emergency response team.

"That's a very important capacity to have in the division," he said. "If you can't invest in it, you have to rely on the south to send it up during a time of crisis. That can have a very tragic outcome, waiting for resources to fly up from the south."

There will also be incentives for officers signing on a four-year term, McVarnock said. Officers can prearrange to rotate to anywhere in Canada once they have completed their time in Nunavut, he said. Officers in small communities will now be paid one hour for every four hours they are on call, McVarnock said.

"When you put those two things together, that's pretty attractive and I think we're going to do well in attracting people up here in the years to come."