Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 25, 2007

RANKIN INLET - One of Rankin Inlet's most respected RCMP detachment commanders will be leaving the community this coming week.

Sgt. Gavin Nash's last day on the job in Rankin will be Aug. 3.

Nash and his family arrived in Baker Lake on July 7, 2001.

The sergeant, his wife, Lori, and their daughter arrived in Rankin on Sept. 5, 2005, after time in Pond Inlet.

The National Aboriginal Police Service came looking for Nash in 2006, but Nunavut's RCMP headquarters didn't want to let him go.

Nash, 44, said he was happy with that decision at the time because he enjoys being in the North.

But, the brass finally relented and Nash will soon be at the RCMP's national headquarters in Ottawa working as a policy analyst for the aboriginal police service.

He will be a liaison between aboriginal divisional members, while also reviewing policies and decisions that affect aboriginal members and the policing of aboriginal communities in Canada.

"The RCMP are quite involved with a lot of the organized protests going on these days," said Nash.

"We'll be monitoring our members to ensure they're complying with what they're supposed to be doing and not acting on their own.

"My new department is a watchdog for stuff like that.

"As well, any policy the RCMP or the Government of Canada come up with that could aversely affect aboriginal members or communities, we would obviously review to ensure that it would fly OK."

His success with policing in aboriginal communities and years as a detachment commander made Nash an attractive addition to the aboriginal police service.

Nash said the service has been concentrating on bringing in veteran members with considerable time in aboriginal communities because sometimes decision makers in Ottawa can fall out of touch with the mood of those communities.

He said the service is trying to bring in some fresh perspectives on what's really happening with aboriginal members and communities.

"It's easy to make up policy when you've been doing it for 20 years.

"But when you haven't been living with the policies you make, things can tend to get more complicated."

Nash doesn't expect to stay in his new position too long because he doesn't want to become a policy maker who hasn't been in the field for an extended period of time.

He said he fully expects to return to the North at some point in time.

"Ottawa is a great family city with some wonderful things to offer.

"We adopted our daughter while in Pond Inlet, so one of the big attractions about Ottawa to us is the size of its Inuit community and the culture our daughter will be able to experience there.

"I could have gone back to Cranbrook, B.C., but what benefit would that have been to our daughter?"

Nash said those at the top of the RCMP right now are going to bring positive developments to Nunavut.

He said it's actually unfortunate that he's leaving right now because the next few years promise to be exciting for policing in the territory.

"You can go to any community in Canada and, from a policing perspective, it's always the same issues.

"You deal with five per cent of the population who have anger-management issues, and when they surface they're generally related to liquor.

"The only thing that changed for me when I came to the North was that I felt more comfortable with the people.

"People here will tell you exactly what's happening and you have a good idea what you can expect from them."

Rankin Mayor Lorne Kusugak said he's sorry to see Nash go, and hopes the new commander will be able to keep the momentum going that the detachment has built up during the past few years.

He said the community will also miss Const. Iain Monteith, but he's confident in the group remaining.

"We're fortunate in that we've had a good bunch of officers during the past few years and it wasn't always that way here," said Kusugak.

"Sgt. Nash always accommodated the wishes of council and the community, and he did a lot to make the police more accessible to people in our community.

"There's also been some good headway made in ridding our community of bootlegging, drug dealing and those who drive while under the influence of alcohol.

"I'm sure the officers who are remaining will continue that good work."