Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (May 24/04) - A new program designed to encourage Northern aboriginals to enter the RCMP will soon be implemented.

The RCMP Access Program, or RAP, is designed to help candidates improve their chances to be accepted for training by upgrading their education and required skills, said Darcy Fleury of the GNWT Department of Justice in Yellowknife.

Cpl. Wayne Norris with the Yellowknife RCMP runs the aboriginal policing section.

"There are advantages to people in a community knowing those who are policing them," said Norris, an aboriginal officer who himself has worked the four corners of the North.

He said out of about 160 regular Mounties of the Northern RCMP, about 30 are aboriginal, with 14 of those from the North.

"If you look at the fact that 50 per cent of our population is aboriginal, then you can see we are trying to increase those numbers," Norris said.

Applications for the program will be accepted until the end of May, with a tentative start date of Aug. 1. Six candidates will be accepted for training. Each will receive a basic living allowance while completing the program.

The program curriculum has not yet been established, but Fleury said it will provide each individual applicant with the academic requirements needed to apply to the RCMP training headquarters in Regina.

While preparing the potential officers for entrance examinations to the six-month program in Regina, students will concentrate on studies, but also experience the day-to-day routine of police work, he said.

Students will have up to one year to complete the program, which includes physical training. They may also have the opportunity to stay in their home community while completing the course, he said.

While it's by no means a program designed to train aboriginal members for the North only, Norris said it's a benefit for the constable to be familiar with the area and its culture -- and for the community to know the officer.