RCMP deputy commissioner Rod Krecht, right, cuts the ribbon with an ulu to declare that the new RCMP building in Iqaluit is now officially open. Looking on are, from left, Chief Superintendent Steve McVarnock, Nunavut Commissioner Edna Elias, Premier Eva Aariak, and Justice Minister Keith Peterson. (PHOTO BY CHRIS WINDEYER)
Nunavut’s RCMP division officially opened on May 31 its new Iqaluit headquarters building, which top brass hope will boost morale and help police do their jobs better. Chief Superintendent Steve McVarnock told reporters that rolling more police operations into the new building on Federal Road will help police officers better communicate with each other more. “It’s bringing everyone together and I can’t stress enough how important that is,” McVarnock said. “You can get segregated even in a city the size of 7,000 [with officers split] between three buildings.” The RCMP currently inhabits three separate offices around the city.McVarnock said that will shrink to two, when plainclothes officers who investigate serious crimes, drugs and federal issues move into the new facility. McVarnock’s office will stay in the Igluvut building at Iqaluit’s Four Corners intersection.
The new office was built as a state of the art facility, with a high-tech communications room, dedicated space for the forensic examination of vehicles and a residual heating system to reduce power consumption. The men’s room is even fitted with a waterless urinal. The new building has fewer cells than the old detachment, with 12 beds, plus two holding rooms for severely intoxicated people. The old building could hold a total of 30 prisoners. But McVarnock said the new rooms are easier for officers on duty to monitor. “We’ll be fine. We’ll be able to manage,” he said.
A second phase of the detachment, which McVarnock said would likely start construction in three years, would house dormitories, training facilities and a gym. Right now, a 25-metre firing range is serving as space for the gym. It will become an actual working firing range when the second phase is completed, McVarnock said. Krecht said he hopes the building will serve as a beacon to attract northerners to the Mounties. “They see a building like this and they say, ‘Gee I wouldn’t mind working in a building like this,’” he said. The old building, on Astro Hill, “has served its purpose, but it’s old, it’s tired, it doesn’t meet current standards in a lot of areas,” McVarnock said. “It’s a big morale booster for a lot of the members who were working in less than ideal circumstances,” he said. The board of the Uquutaq men’s shelter is attempting to take over the old RCMP detachment building.
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