Latest news with #Turgeon
Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
Due North: Life in the Grise Fiord RCMP
Grise Fiord is home to several northernmosts. The Nunavut hamlet of about 140 people, roughly 1,500 kilometres south of the North Pole, is Canada's northernmost civilian community. Kids there attend Umimmak School, which is Canada's northernmost school. And for the RCMP, the community's two-member office is its northernmost detachment. Const. Ted Turgeon, the acting detachment commander, describes living in Grise Fiord as a positive, and unique, experience. He came to Nunavut for the first time last June, after a decade of policing in Alberta and British Columbia. 'It was the light season, so we were able to meet people here in the summer and get introduced very kindly to the community and folks here,' Turgeon said in an interview, speaking of the seasons there that include periods of 24-hour sunshine and 24 hours of darkness. 'My wife works here in the community and we very much enjoy our time here and have felt very welcomed by the community.' The Grise Fiord detachment gets 'the same type of calls that happen everywhere,' he said, including reports involving violence and concerns about dangerous drivers. Being a small community, though, those calls are less frequent than in other places. In 2024, Grise Fiord RCMP responded to just over 100 calls in the community, Turgeon said, meaning there was a call about once every three or four days. The detachment operates Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but officers are on call around the clock. Three-quarters of the calls that come in are between midnight and 4 a.m., Turgeon said, and officers are expected to respond in less than eight minutes. Beyond policing, the RCMP assists with local search and rescue efforts and plays a role in Arctic security. 'We have heard of submarines out in the bay in front of the community in years past,' Turgeon said. 'Especially with heightened political tensions right now, it's something that we're aware of and monitoring in terms of Canadian safety and our response.' The RCMP's Grise Fiord site is its northernmost detachment. (Photo by Jeff Pelletier) The Grise Fiord detachment building opened in 2002. But the RCMP's presence in the High Arctic goes back decades, including its involvement in the High Arctic relocations in the 1950s and earlier. Turgeon said he is well aware of the history of the relocations, and he spends time listening to elders in the community share their stories. In addition to that, the RCMP gives back to the community in different ways. For example, Turgeon said, they cook a weekly school breakfast, drink tea with elders, read storybooks to kids and participate in community gatherings on occasions like Canada Day, Nunavut Day and Easter games. The relationships they've built go a long way, he said. 'I think being a member of the community and being part of community events is vital, both as a person living in this community and as an RCMP officer working here,' Turgeon said. 'Community policing is relationships-based policing, and in small communities — whether in Nunavut or elsewhere — it's the relationships that will help things go as smooth as they can.'
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Northwest Minnesota MDHA chapter getting back on track
Mar. 29—KITTSON COUNTY, Minn. — It's been a bit of a process, but the North Red River Chapter of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association is working to regain the momentum it had before the COVID-19 pandemic, its chapter president says. The chapter restarted in 2024 after a hiatus because of COVID restrictions and is looking for ways to reach out and educate people about the MDHA and what local chapters can do for outdoors opportunities in their communities. "We just got all new officers so we're all on a learning curve, but we're doing all right," said Brent Krantz of Karlstad, the chapter's new president. Initially formed some four decades ago, the Kittson County-based MDHA chapter was defunct for several years until late 2013, when then-MDHA executive director Mark Johnson, along with local outdoors enthusiasts such as Kelly Turgeon, organized a meeting to revive the chapter with a focus on elk management, youth hunting opportunities and low deer numbers, according to a story in the Dec. 22, 2013, edition of the Grand Forks Herald. Johnson now is executive director of the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council. In June 2023, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources honored Turgeon for his efforts as a volunteer with the DNR's Adopt-a-WMA program. Turgeon, who lived in Hallock, Minnesota, has since retired and moved from the area, leaving big shoes for the chapter's new leadership to fill. "He did a superb job," Krantz said. "I've got a lot to learn, but we're making progress." The chapter has about 150 members, Krantz says, compared with "a little over 200" before COVID hit. Hopefully, Krantz says, the chapter can increase that number through events such as the annual chapter banquet, set for April 12 in the Hallock City Hall, 163 Third St. SE. Doors open at 4:30 p.m., with social hour beginning at 5, followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Trapshooting teams from the Kittson Central and Northern Freeze schools are helping at the banquet, Krantz says, and the chapter is giving away 20 guns, plus "a lot of nice door prizes and raffle prizes." "We've been getting a lot of donations from area businesses and individuals, so that's a big help," he said. Going forward, Krantz says, the chapter plans to continue working with the DNR on wildlife management area habitat projects and promoting youth programs such as the MDHA's Forkhorn Camps, which provide a variety of youth learning opportunities. The MDHA offers the camps, which range in price from about $500 to $600, in a half-dozen locations around the state. "Depending on how many kids want to go, we will sponsor partially or the whole thing," Krantz said. "Last year, we only had one go, we paid his whole way and so we're encouraging kids to do the Forkhorn Camp." For more information on the North Red River MDHA chapter, contact Krantz at (218) 469-3522, by email at brentkr@ ; or Stephanie Anderson, chapter secretary, at mncowgirl94@ .
CBC
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Canadian Geographic's Canadian Photos of the Year chase the light
Shane Turgeon says he's been chasing the light ever since he had a nervous breakdown in 2012. "It scared the hell out of me, and in the process of that, I discovered photography," Turgeon, 47, of Edmonton and Pincher Creek, Alta., recently told Canadian Geographic magazine. On Wednesday, the magazine announced the winners of its 2024 Canadian Photos of the Year competition. It honours 14 photographers who captured some of the best shots of 2024. Turgeon was named the grand prize winner. IN PHOTOS | Winning Canadian wildlife images "Photography is this place of light," Turgeon said in a news release. "We're constantly chasing the light, figuratively and literally, because, in life or photography, we want that light in our life." In one of his winning photos, sunset adds a warm glow to this developing supercell near Bentley, Alta. (Shane Turgeon) In another winning image, he meets the eyes of a grizzly bear in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alta., which he describes as a profound moment. "You understand that we are all deeply interconnected," Turgeon said. "That we are all a part of nature. That we all require a clean environment and have a need for a safe existence." (Shane Turgeon) Outside of of the grand prize, the competition had four other categories. In the outdoor adventure category, Sara Kempner of Cumberland, B.C., won for this image of mountain bikers racing side-by-side on parallel tracks during the "Speed & Style" competition at the 2024 finale of the Crankworx World Tour, held in Whistler, B.C. (Sara Kempner) In the flora, fauna and fungi category, Stuart White of Mount Pearl, N.L., won for his photo of two red fox kits tumbling around in the dirt of Bonavista. (Stuart White) Peter Baumgarten of Manitowaning, Ont., won the urban and natural landscapes category for his photo of the late afternoon sun between the silhouettes of two condo towers in Etobicoke. Craig Boehm of Regina won the weather, seasons and skies category with this image, called cinnamon bun, of a tornado-warned storm swirling over the prairies of Avonlea, Sask. (Craig Boehm) The competition was judged by Christian Fleury, Jenny Wong, Scott Forsyth, Ryan Tidman and the magazine's editorial and design teams. Here are a few other photos honoured in the annual competition that caught our eye. For an honourable mention in the flora, fauna and fungi category, Rain Saulnier of Calgary captured these Atlantic puffins near Elliston, N.L. (Rain Saulnier) Matthew Littlewood of Banff, Alta., was the runner up in the outdoor adventure category for this photo of the Dome Glacier, on the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park. (Matthew Littlewood) And Peter O'Hara of Canmore, Alta., captured the northern lights dancing over Vermillion Lakes in Banff National Park to nab an honourable mention the weather, seasons and skies category.
