By Colton Swiderski

Waterhen Mountie recognized as best in the north; gains career experience with Fort McMurray deployment

May 17, 2016 | 5:00 PM

Scenes from a post-apocalyptic zombie movie is how Const. Jean-Philippe Gauthier from the Waterhen Lake RCMP detachment describes the atmosphere in Fort McMurray.

Gauthier said he gained valuable career experience after he was stationed in Fort McMurray since the evacuation order came two weeks ago.

“Here in Fort McMurray you see desolation. I didn’t see all the evacuations, I saw only the after affects, firefighters fighting the hot spots and wildfires. It’s crazy and I can see that, seeing the desolation of the city is crazy. 90,000 people left their houses and you just walk or drive around the city completely empty. It’s really special,” he said.

He added it’s difficult to find the exact words to describe Fort McMurray but describes it like something out of a zombie movie.

“You’re just driving, see some fire alarms start or (in) some houses the TV is on. Some vehicles aren’t at the right spot or abandoned accidents, vehicles with dents. It’s like people left really quickly,” Gauthier said. “And now the water, power and sprinklers are coming back… it’s like everybody left so quickly and a lot of things weren’t shut off or closed.”

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While his time in Fort McMurray came to an end on May 17, Gauthier is looking forward to getting rested after 15-hour shifts plus overtime.

He said his time in Fort McMurray was a good learning experience and while there, officers from across Canada knew who he was after a YouTube video of Gauthier went viral in 2015 which dubbed him the dancing Mountie.

“I was asked to participate and I showed up on the Sunday after my shift and they saw I was getting into the dancing and someone filmed me. The video went on the Internet and went viral so (now) I’m being named the dancing Mountie,” Gauthier said with a laugh.

He added one of the things he learned in his job is to be close to the community. Situations like the powwow, school presentations and general community policing all help make an officer closer to the people in the community according to Gauthier.

Tomorrow, May 18, the Northern Policing Symposium will celebrate Gauthier with the Mountie of the Year award in recognition of his service. Gauthier remained humble and said he’s just being recognized for what comes naturally.

“Policing is easy sometimes to go with the flow or trying to do something better for the community, but doing this takes a lot of energy (and) sleep deprivation. Receiving the award is actually just a clap to your back and saying ‘thank you very much for what you’re doing and don’t stop, we like it.’ It’s giving you a little encouragement to carry on,” he said.

Stuck in an ordinary, Monday to Friday job and wanting something more, Gauthier became a police officer like so many members of his family.

“I thought it was interesting. (I) spoke with family members. A career, uniform, rank, I thought it was really structured and I liked it, RCMP was a good way to do it, see a lot of Canada and gain different experiences like the one I got in Fort McMurray,” he said.

cswiderski@jpbg.ca

On twitter: @coltonswiderski