Arctic Bay (Mar 31/03) - After being a member of the RCMP for more than 24 years, Cpl. Clare Kines is retiring.

He's been stationed in Arctic Bay for the last four years. Kines will not leave the North, but instead build his life here.

"I love it here. I'm staying here after retirement. Leah, my wife, is from the community so we're going to be making our life in Arctic Bay," said Kines.

Kines said he decided many years ago to retire after being with the RCMP for 25 years. He started in Thompson, Man., as a summer student at the RCMP detachment. He was 19 years old.

"I love doing what I'm doing. I think I was probably about eight when I decided I wanted to be a Mountie. When I was growing up, I knew all the police. I was always in awe of the Mounties. I wanted to be involved in a profession that would help people. This is the greatest job in the world, but I also don't want to do it for the rest of my life," he said.

Two of the biggest challenges Kines said he faced while policing in the North were the limited resources for officers and the language barrier.

He said it's a challenge for police officers to do their job properly if they aren't able to communicate with the people in the community. However, Kines also said someone always offers to translate and with the influx of Inuit recruits the barrier is slowly being broken down.

"My partner for the last two years now is Inuit and that's been a big bonus," he said.

Kines has taken it upon himself to learn the language and said he is slowly getting better.

Kines is looking at a couple of things to keep him occupied after retirement. He's going to spend a couple of weeks on his brand-new boat this summer. He'll be bringing it up to Arctic Bay from Kugluktuk. Kines also hopes to get involved in some tourism projects, like opening a bed and breakfast.

And he says he's really looking forward to spending a lot more time with his eight-month-old son, Travis.