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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknifers wishing to enlist in the Canadian Forces reserves may have to wait a little longer after Yellowknife's recruitment centre closes next year.

Capt. Dorothy Wiebe of the Canadian Forces recruiting centre in the Greenstone Building greets Capt. Conrad Schubert of Joint Task Force North on Monday. The Yellowknife branch is among 12 recruitment centres nationwide that are due to close next year as the federal government makes budget cuts. - Kevin Allerston/NNSL photo

Capt. Conrad Schubert, commander of Yellowknife's reserve company with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment 49th Battalion, said applications from the NWT after March 2013 will be processed in Calgary where the top priority is regular forces, not reserves.

Reserve applications, he said, typically are processed within five weeks of submission at the Yellowknife centre, compared to five months in Calgary.

The recruiting centre was added after the federal Greenstone Building on Franklin Avenue was opened in 2005. There are currently 42 Yellowknife residents signed up with the reserves.

"Processing reserve applications is something they do when time's available," said Schubert.

"But the recruiting centre here doesn't processes as many regular force applicants, so they have the time to devote to processing our applicants. We have really been fortunate in getting really top-notch applicants, because they know they can go to the recruiting centre and they can be dealt with quickly and before they move or have any sort of significant life change, they'll be processed and they can start their training.

"If we move to waiting as long as they do down south ... You know, busy people can't always wait for processing to happen. I feel very confident that we'll continue to get our files processed, I feel very confident that we'll get very good people applying to join - I'm just hoping that the system can process those very good people fast enough to retain their interest."

According to Capt. Dorothy Wiebe, commander of the detachment of four at the Yellowknife recruiting centre, the process for regular forces recruits from the North will likely be less onerous.

It's expected members of the Canadian Forces Recruiting Group will come North two to three times a year for a few days after the Yellowknife recruiting centre closes to do the appropriate testing on regular forces recruits - medical, physical, aptitude - and take their files with them to be processed down south.

"I don't think it's going to have a big impact from a regular force perspective, so applicants will still be spoken to by live recruiters, so they won't be just a number in a system. They should still have personal contact with a recruiter," said Wiebe.

"We're going to continue to serve the people of the North, just more remotely, that's all."

As for her future role with the Canadian Forces, Wiebe said that remains unclear.

"I don't actually know what will happen to my position. It will get reallocated to one of the other areas either up North here or back into the recruiting group in another area where it's deemed I'm required," Wiebe said.

"So, what does that mean for me? Well? Who knows. I have no crystal ball."

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