RANKIN INLET
Youths in the 3019 Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps (RCACC) in Rankin Inlet are dealing with the news their corps may disappear at the end of this cadet season.

Cadet Warrant Officer Obadiah Sanguin stands guard at the cenotaph during Remembrance Day Services in Rankin Inlet on Nov. 11. The Rankin corps may cease operations at the end of the current season due to a lack of adult instructors. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Corps commander 2nd Lieut. Dorothy Tootoo said the Rankin corps will fold if people don't volunteer to help.

She said an emergency meeting held this past month to drum up interest couldn't have gone any worse.

"We had one person interested, but he wouldn't sign up as a cadet instructor cadre (CIC) or a civilian instructor (CI)," said Tootoo. "We're dangerously close to seeing our doors close for good on June 4.

"We need people to become a CIC, which means they become a reservist in the Canadian military.

"I had some very upset cadets because they could see summer camp slipping away but I told them we don't know for sure until we see if anyone in the community is willing to step up."

3019 Rankin Inlet RCACC was established almost 29 years ago on Feb. 16, 1987.

Tootoo has been with the corps since October of 2005, and was hoping someone would take the CIC courses to allow her to step down.

She is willing to help with the administrational side of the program if someone takes the CIC training.

Tootoo said the majority of the cadets understand what's happening.

She said many of them are asking their teachers and other adults to help.

"If someone steps up, I'll gladly help with the admin for awhile because it's an enormous task that can be quite daunting if you're not familiar with their systems. I'd try to stay away from the corps side of it as much as I could, because people do have a tendency to go back to what they know.

"A lot of people in the community don't seem to believe the corps is so close to shutting down, but it is.

"Right now, it's really only Deborah Larlee and I running the corps and we have 36 kids on staff."

Tootoo said Ben Porter comes out about 60 per cent of the time on Monday to run the range but that's the only help they receive.

She said many of the young people will be genuinely disturbed if the corps folds.

"You're going to have a core group of kids cut out who have grown up with this structure. They like the leadership training, taking the lead within the corps, and training for the biathlon and the Lord Strathcona Trust Fund Sports Competition.

"Where will they train in Rankin to continue to compete other than in cadets?

"Cadets is no longer seen as a southern program, since we added corps elders, which puts us along the lines of Junior Rangers with a bit more emphasis on leadership and classroom instruction."

Tootoo said she still harbours hope people will step up at the 11th hour to help.

She said it's hard to believe the community would let such a successful youth program shut its doors.

"There's a real apathy here for people to volunteer and give their time to the kids. I don't know how we motivate people to give back. You have a small group of people who have given so much, but they simply have no more time to give.

"Others, mainly teachers, have left Rankin and there doesn't seem to be anyone else willing to help.

"How sad, really, that we have to close something so beneficial to our youth for people to wake up."

Cadet Warrant Officer Tatonya Autut, 16, said she didn't believe she'd ever see the day the Rankin corps would shut its doors.

The Grade 11 student joined cadets as a 12-year-old, and said the news was a huge surprise that made her sad.

"When I first started cadets we had a lot of adults helping out, but, recently, the people helping dropped really quickly," said Autut. "Cadets has been a huge part of my life since I joined, and I thought I'd be in the program until I aged-out or graduated and moved away.

"I'll be really upset if it's announced in January that our corps is done in June.

"Cadets gave me all the qualities and abilities that make me who I am today."

Autut said she's used the skills she learned in cadets at school and in interviews.

She said she's been giving back as much as she can to the corps by helping cadets new to the program.

"I've been doing that for the past three years and I enjoy taking on that leadership role within the corps. It makes me really sad and upset to think the corps may not be running next year.

"A big part of my teenage years is being taken away from me and, sometimes, it feels like the community is letting us down.

"I still hope we can be the same strong corps we used to be, so other kids get the chance to take part in such a wonderful program."

Autut said many Rankin cadets aren't involved with sports and had planned to stay with the corps a long time.

She said they're always in the mindset of wanting to be with their friends and fellow cadets.

"Every cadet I talked to has been pretty sad and shocked to hear the news. Those who aren't involved in sports and don't have jobs outside of school ask me what they're going to do if the corps folds.

"The news has made them very, very sad and upset and, in some cases, more than a little worried, I think."

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