By Frank Gale
Star Staff Writer
STEPHENVILLE Communities under the Bay St. George District Detachment of the RCMP are benefiting this summer from work being carried out by two college students with aboriginal backgrounds.
Stephen Rose of Stephenville and Lukas Chaisson of Cape St. George are RCMP/Federations of Newfoundland Indians Summer Students who are carrying out a variety of community work and are available for community events up to late August.
Both are members of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band and have an interest in their cultural background.
“The culture interests me; however, it is hard to find out a whole lot about it,” Rose said.
Chaisson played on the aboriginal hockey team that represented Newfoundland and Labrador in a tournament in Ontario in 2008 and enjoyed what he described as a “fun trip.” He had the opportunity to take part in a smudging ceremony and said it was all right, but was pretty smoky.
Already they have visited the Bookworms Program at Stephenville Primary School and showed the young people a bike safety video; as well as fingerprinted them for safety reasons.
They attended the Powwow in Flat Bay during the weekend of July 9 and 10, where they helped out any way they could, including keeping the Sacred Fire burning and being there as representatives of the RCMP.
Rose said something else they have been involved in is checking to see if cars are locked and that there are not valuables in sight. They have issued “fake tickets” reminding people to lock their vehicles and have valuables out of sight.
Later on they will be visiting cabins in the area and handing out brochures on the importance of keeping them locked.
The students will be helping out with the RCMP Musical Ride when it performs in Stephenville on Thursday, July 28. Chaisson said the RCMP’s Safety Bear might even be making an appearance at that event.
Other plans they have for this summer is conducting a bicycle rodeo in conjunction with the Kippens Recreation Program; attending the Blueberry Festival in St. George’s and the Sand and Sea Festival in Burgeo.
They will be getting a good taste of the justice system by spending a day watching court proceedings and tours of the West Coast Correctional Centre and Westbridge House, a co-ed community residential centre for adult offenders on day parole located on West Street in Stephenville.
The students, who work out of the Bay St. George RCMP District Detachment in Stephenville, said the RCMP members have been very easy to get along with and they are appreciative of the guidance provided by them.
Both are attending Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland in Corner Brook where Rose if working on a degree in environmental science with a view to pursuing a career in the RCMP, with Environment Canada or possibly with the Provincial Wildlife Division.
Chaisson is working on his degree in chemistry and plans to follow up by going to medical school after.
Organizations who have community activities planned and would like the RCMP/Federations of Newfoundland Indians Summer Students in attendance can contact Rose or Chaisson at the RCMP Detachment at (709) 643-2118.
