LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - With the arrival of a new constable last month the Fort Simpson RCMP detachment remains at full strength.

Const. Steve Butt was posted to the village in early October. Fort Simpson is the second community where Butt has been posted with the RCMP.

Const. Steve Butt is the newest member of the Fort Simpson RCMP detachment. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Originally from Botwood, N.L,. Butt said joining the RCMP is something he'd always wanted to do. Part of his motivation was that he "wanted to do good," something that Butt freely admits sounds a bit corny.

Being a member has a number of similarities to his original career path. With a Masters in Health Administration from Dalhousie University Butt worked as a chronic disease prevention co-ordinator with a healthy authority in Nova Scotia for two and a half years.

The job involved doing good but with results that were visible over the long term, he said. Being a member of the RCMP shortens the time frame.

"You see the results quickly with this kind of a job," he said about the RCMP. Both jobs have other parallels including giving talks to students in schools and running injury prevention programs.

After training at the RCMP depot, Butt requested a Northern posting.

"I was very allured by the culture and being able to be out in the community," he said.

Butt's first posting, beginning in September 2007, was in Deline where he enjoyed interacting with the local residents.

"It's a very welcoming community," said Butt.

Working in the North also brings opportunities that you don't get in the south like going out on the land, he said. In August, prior to moving to Fort Simpson, Butt was able to participate in a three-day trip with Deline community members to Cloud Bay where he went fishing and helped to prepare dry meat and fish. Butt said he's hoping to also get involved in the community of Fort Simpson.

"It's a very nice community," said Butt, who moved to Fort Simpson with his fiancee Ashley Janes.

Butt arrived at the detachment to fill a position that was left when another member was transferred, said Sgt. Ron Prangnell.

Prangnell said the detachment continues to remain at strength with one corporal and one constable for Wrigley in addition to five constables and himself for the remaining area. The detachment serves Wrigley, Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River and now Trout Lake, which was added on Oct. 1.