In many parts of the province, you may not think twice about going to a store and purchasing a car seat for your vehicle. In other areas, this vehicle safety equipment is not as easily available for purchase.
"Our detachment is located in a remote area of Saskatchewan and members of the community don't have easy access to car seats," said Cst. St-Germain of Stony Rapids/Black Lake RCMP. He and Cst. Lewis searched online for how they could help keep the youngest people in their community safe when they are vehicle passengers.
In June 2020, Cst. St-Germain and Cst. Lewis applied for a car seat grant through SGI and the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute. The program's goal is to improve overall child passenger safety in Saskatchewan. One month later, they learned they were successful in receiving funding for car seats to distribute within their detachment area.
In September, as part of phase one of the project, officers gave away 14 car seats. "Those who attended were thankful for getting car seats for their children or grandchildren," said Cst. Lewis, "We also provided car seats to the local shelter and Athabasca Denesuline Child and Family Services in Black Lake (ADCFS) for their use."
The local shelter is named Sa Kew Chu Sa'Kew Ko'no Kwa, and provides safe housing for women and children fleeing domestic violence. The shelter has six suites and can house up to 21 people. As part of the safety initiative, Sa Kew Chu Sa'Kew Ko'no Kwa was given a car seat and two booster seats.
"These car seats will be of great value as we can transport our clients and children safely," said Tammy from Sa Kew Chu Sa'Kew Ko'no Kwa, "We are able to do more activities within the communities: fishing, berry picking, trips to appointments and transporting to and from school. We did not have any car seats prior to this, and it was a concern. The roads up here are not paved, and sometimes in bad condition."
Why did the Stony Rapids/Black Lake officers apply for this funding? "We think its important to help keep children safe," remarked Cst. St-Germain, "It is one of the most important things that we can do in our role as peace officers and is one of the reasons we became RCMP officers to begin with."
"Building strong community relationships and trust is an equally important task for RCMP officers," added Cst. Lewis, "Our mission is to protect and serve and we can only do this from a position of trust within the community. We hope projects like this one can help us build that trust within the community."
The detachment hopes to give away more car seats in the second part of the project in the new year (2021).