Every so often, an unusual event triggers an extraordinary emergency service response. Such an event occurred within the municipality of Haines Junction last month involving attempted thefts, an assault, and a car chase culminating in shots being fired at one of our local RCMP members, wounding him, prior to the suspected culprits being apprehended.
In the normal course of events, this is a small, tight-knit community of law-abiding citizens who respect our local RCMP and other emergency services providers as they work diligently in both the foreground and background at keeping the community safe.
They do such a good job that we tend to take our safety and security almost for granted, and it is only when that peace of mind is threatened that we reflect upon how disconcerting to a community acts of wanton violence or aggression can be.
Council and I want to acknowledge our local members of the RCMP, and particularly thank the officer who stepped into the line of fire in the course of maintaining our safety and security during last month’s incident.
We offer our sincere best wishes to him for a speedy and complete recovery, and want him and his family to know that our thoughts and gratitude, along with the thoughts and prayers of many in this community, are with them.
On a wider scale, we would like to thank those many RCMP officers who responded from outside our community to assist in restoring law and order and apprehension of the suspects.
Thank you for restoring our peace of mind in the safety and security of our community, and the reassurance that you are there and ready to help in such emergencies.
We also want to acknowledge the contribution made by all of our emergency service personnel à many of whom are volunteer à as they unselfishly put the good of the community ahead of inherent risk to themselves as a result of the services they provide.
Thank you all.
George Nassiopoulos, mayor
Haines Junction