FORT SEVERN, Ont. – City police officers arrived on Monday to Ontario’s most northern community to continue an initiative aimed at helping students who may continue their high school education in Thunder Bay stay safe while learning away from home.
Many remote communities in Ontario’s Far North are not equipped to provide students with a full high school education. That leaves families grappling with a difficult decision – forgo having their child seek a Grade 12 diploma or send them to away to a city like Thunder Bay.
The Thunder Bay Police Service has designed safety messaging for families opting for the latter option. From basic street safety, to keeping in regular contact with family, the visiting police officers go over a range of topics with students, parents, teachers and anyone else interested.
But for community response team Sgt. Greg Campagna, the trips are more than just an opportunity to make presentations.
“It’s very important to make these kinds of connections,” Campagna said. “By making these connections now we may be able to help alleviate some concerns and prevent issues from arising in the future.”
He added meeting the students face to face before they leave for Thunder Bay helps make the officers in the Aboriginal Liaison unit more accessible and approachable for the students when they arrive.
Campagna is a recent addition to the Community Response Team, which overseas the Aboriginal Liaison Unit. His arrival to the shores of the Hudson Bay was his first ever to a remote, far north community in Ontario.
“The community was very welcoming,” he said about his first impressions of Fort Severn. “I feel there’s a strong sense of community here, and the people seem to really rely on one another like a big family.”
Const. Gary Cambly also made the trip to Fort Severn Monday. A member of the Aboriginal Liaison Unit, Cambly has brought the police service’s safety messaging to several communities across Ontario’s far north.
Last year he and Aboriginal liaison unit officer Const. Bob Simon flew to Wunnumin Lake, Summer Beaver, Sandy Lake and other area communities.
“It’s nice to help give people a little bit of an education, and to be able to speak with them face to face” Cambly said about the conversations he’s had with students, parents, grandparents and elders over the last year.
“Being welcomed into their home like this I think speaks volumes for our department and the outreach were trying to do.”
He added the trip to Fort Severn and several other upcoming visits were made possible through a partnership with Nishnawbe Aski Police Service.
Trips to Keewaywin and Poplar Hill First Nations are tentatively scheduled to take place soon, with other arrangements being made to visit other area communities still ongoing.
-- Submitted by the Thunder Bay Police Service
