Jake Kennedy
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 21/02) - It's a homecoming of sorts for Inspector Pat McCloskey of the "G" Division RCMP.

In 1974, McCloskey's first posting was as an RCMP officer in Yellowknife. He spent four years travelling around the North. Earlier this month, he moved to Yellowknife, after several years away from the North, to become the criminal operations officer and second-in-command of the "G" Division RCMP.

Yellowknifelife: When did you arrive here?

Pat McCloskey: This kind of dates me a bit, but I came here in April of 1974. Yellowknife was my first posting, straight out of training in Regina.

Two of us came here at that time. We drove up the highway. We got as far as Hay River and found out that the ice bridge was out for the spring. So we had to leave our car in Hay River for about six weeks, until the river opened, and had to be flown up.

That was our introduction to the Northwest Territories. Nobody had told us about that before we got to Hay River.

Yellowknifelife: What was it like coming to the NWT in those days?

PM: I learned a lot about life living in a settlement. In those days we didn't have things like satellite television, VCRs. Life really required you to get to know the community. It helped put us out on the land more with the people than what possibly exists today.

My time up here was a very enjoyable time. The North was very vibrant in those days. At that time, things were really moving strongly in the oil and gas industry, for starters. Now when I come back, I see it's going back to that era -- in the sense that the diamond mines, and the exploration that's going on, the talk of a possible pipeline. I suspect that in a lot of ways the territories are coming back to life the way it was in the seventies.

Yellowknifelife: What has changed in Yellowknife since you were last here?

PM: The town itself, or city, is dramatically different from back in those days -- not only in size. Now you land at the airport, and look out the window and almost see development to the foot of the runway. It's almost to the point where when you fly in, if you've been away as long as I've been away, you might not recognize the community.

Yellowknifelife: Has the RCMP changed in that time as well?

PM: It's interesting, because in 1974 the force ("G" Division) made the decision to move our headquarters from Ottawa to Yellowknife. Prior to that, we just had a detachment, we didn't have a division headquarters.

We brought people up lock, stock and barrel. I remember one day, about 20 public servants arrived from Ottawa in one move. A couple went back right away, they were so shocked by the environment, but the majority stayed and went on to make careers here in Yellowknife.

Yellowknifelife: What about the way the RCMP polices the North. Have there been any changes there?

PM: Yes and no. That can be easily answered in that some things haven't changed. One of the first newspaper articles I read here, I noticed a bold headline "3,765 persons arrested for intoxication so far this year." That hasn't changed.

I can't remember what our statistics were back in the 1970s for that type of offence, but I suspect they were somewhere close to that. To me, that's something that hasn't changed. It should change. We have to do more work in that area.

One area that I have noticed it has changed is that nature of the criminal activity, such as illegal drug use and distribution, or the diamond industry which we didn't have back then. There are some changes, but it's at the more sophisticated end of policing. The day-to-day work on the street that I see our members doing here today is probably pretty similar to the 1970s.

Yellowknifelife: What made you come North again?

PM: Well, the first time I came North it was for the experience of the North. I was offered an opportunity as a 20-year-old. I'd never been North, and it seemed exciting to me. Everything I knew about the North I'd seen on television or read in books. So, I wanted to see it for myself.

I had a situation back in May where I had a serious medical predicament where I required a serious operation. It allowed me to look at life in a different way. So when I was recovering from my operation, I was provided an opportunity to consider coming here. It seemed very timely, as I was looking at life differently. I'd always dreamed of coming back North, and this was an opportunity to do that.

Having served in the North, and having loved the North while I was here, I truly enjoyed the people. I can't tell you how much I look forward to returning to communities like Fort Good Hope and Inuvik, just like Yellowknife, and meeting people I knew back in the 1970s.

Coming back and seeing a lot of people - it's sort of like coming home. That's what drew me back this time.