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By Tom Mark
Appreciate The RCMP

Appreciate The RCMP

Aug 13, 2018 | 6:16 AM

A Vernon man will be at Vernon city council  today  seeking support for a campaign to have February 1st declared RCMP Appreciation Day in BC.

Martin von Holst says he and some friends came up with the idea one morning over breakfast.

He says they were talking about how that day was Put a Sweater on your Dog Day, when the conversation moved on to the RCMP and it was noted they’ve been around for decades and don’t have a day of recognition.

“Officially, the RCMP have now 98 years because 2020 February 1st it will be a hundredth anniversary of the RCMP and they don’t have a day of recognition. Now, we have you know, recognized the military, recognized law enforcement, things like that, but we feel the RCMP deserve a day of their own.”

von Holst and his group want a letter of support from the city that they can take to the provincial and federal levels to try to have the day declared.

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“It’s a feel good thing. It’s not a political motivation. There’s nothing like that. It’s really just to honour and recognize the men and women of the RCMP.”

von Holst says he’s already spoken with local M-L-A Eric Foster and M-P Mel Arnold to get their support to take it higher.

“One of the things I explain to people is that when I was a kid, I remember looking at officers in serge and going “AAH.” You know, as a kid we revered the RCMP and we seem to have lost some of that over the last, I’ll say, over the last 30 years probably.”

von Holst notes it was February 1st 1920 when the North West Mounted Police merged with the Dominion Police to become the RCMP.

 

by Tom Mark

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