INUVIK
The regional commanding officer who oversees support for the Inuvik army cadets was surprised by the former commanding officer for the town's unit making public his issues with how the cadet program was operating.

A Cadets Canada representative says the youth organization is working diligently to find a replacement for cadet commanding officer Paul MacDonald, left, standing next to Kanelsa Noksana in 2009. - NNSL file photo

Speaking from Winnipeg, Lt. Col. Michele Claveau, commanding officer of regional cadet support unit for the Northwest region, told the Drum that despite the difference of opinion with former commanding officer Paul MacDonald on how the unit should be operated, Cadets Canada is working diligently to find a replacement and get the cadet program up and running once again.

On hiatus since September, the Inuvik cadet program has been without a commanding officer since MacDonald resigned in late summer last year. MacDonald had originally given his resignation in October 2013, but delayed leaving for one year.

In his four-page resignation letter, MacDonald wrote of bureaucracy in the cadet program that hindered his ability to operate the unit with effectiveness.

Claveau said regional command had been working with MacDonald, who was involved with the unit for eight years, to work through the issues he had.

"We acknowledge McDonald has been and continues to be a vocal critic of the bureaucracy and the rules and regulations, in his view, do not fit in with Northern living," she said. "We have worked very hard to support the unit training plan and the cadets and work with him to address his concerns."

One of the main issues MacDonald had, according to Claveau, was the Cadet code of conduct. Based on the Canadian Centre for Child Protection's Commit to Kids program, a sexual abuse prevention tool used by a number of child-serving organizations across Canada, the goal of the plan was to create professional relationships with children in the program, said Claveau.

"The intent was to find healthy boundaries between adult and cadet and he found this was overly restrictive considering the small community," she said.

"It doesn't prevent social interaction and healthy boundaries with cadets, whether it be in school or sports teams. They are delivering a program for youth from adolescents into adulthood and they may develop relationships with cadets and it needs to remain professional."

Claveau said she doesn't understand why or how it's restrictive in the community and said it hasn't been elaborated to them what the issues are.

One of the other issues was the policy that restricts training in cold temperatures. The decision to train in cold weather is left up to the local unit leadership to decide if cadets are capable of completing training, said Claveau, adding there is no temperature limit in place to stop cadets from outside training.

"Qualified leaders are able to make informed decisions based on cold temperatures," she said. "It hasn't been elaborated to us what the problems is with the general guidance. It is flexible in order to support the cadets in the corps in their given communities."

Despite the controversy, Claveau said efforts have increased to find new leadership to take over command of the unit and have identified a number of community members they think will be able to fill the role MacDonald had left empty.

Cadet leaders from Yellowknife will be in Inuvik in the coming months help with recruitment and talk to the community and "get the adult leadership that we know is there to step forward to support the corp," said Claveau.

The cadet program is an integral part of the community and plays an important role in providing youth opportunities to grow, said Claveau, and it's a high priority to get the cadet program active again.

"It gives the community and kids in the community structure and something to focus on, and a way to provide support for one another," she said. "It's a program that gives them opportunities to let them find interests that were not presented otherwise in the community.