Saskatchewan RCMP officer chosen as sentry for national Remembrance Day ceremony

Every year, six Canadian Armed Forces members and one RCMP officer are chosen from across the nation as sentries for the nationwide Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa.

Out of a giant pool of nominees for this yr’s occasion, a police officer from the Saskatoon space has been chosen as this yr’s RCMP sentry.

Cpl. Rielly Knock, who’s at present stationed within the communities of Warman and Martensville, Sask., has participated in Remembrance Day ceremonies previously.

Nevertheless he known as this a particular alternative in his profession.

“Being chosen to signify the RCMP and be the one that everyone will get to see this yr is an expertise like nothing else,” admitted Knock when talking to World Information forward of Remembrance Day.

In response to the Remembrance Day Sentry Program, the seven sentries stand vigil on the Nationwide Struggle Memorial in Ottawa throughout ceremonies held on Nov. 11.

An brazenly transgender man, Knock is happy to not solely signify the province he was born and raised in, however the LGBTQ2 group as nicely.

“To signify the 2SLGBTQ+ group and present that being part of this group actually isn’t going to hinder you in any means in your profession is a large honour,” Knock mentioned.

“I wish to do my greatest to honour those that served within the wars and the RCMP members who gave the last word sacrifice for our nation.”

He hopes his platform of being open together with his experiences as a transgender man will make issues simpler for the subsequent technology.

“Being open about it has actually helped change the way in which the group thinks about minority communities. We’ve modified insurance policies due to my and different individuals’s willingness to be open about who they’re,” Knock said.

“Whether or not or not I’m the primary out and even the primary trans individual to do that, for me it’s about being open and about being clear and upfront.”

Knock wished to say that he and the RCMP are hoping to honour a particular casualty from the Second World Struggle throughout Thursday’s ceremony.

He mentioned he’ll be representing Cpl. Charlie Johnstone of Quantity One Provost Firm — a gaggle shaped by volunteer members of the RCMP to regulate convoys and roads in the course of the conflict.

Knock shared that Johnstone was the RCMP’s first deadly casualty within the Second World Struggle when the SS Nerissa was torpedoed and sank on Apr. 30, 1941 within the Atlantic Ocean.

A optimistic step in the direction of extra illustration

Sentries are picked primarily based on standards together with deployment expertise, group involvement, bodily health and their file of conduct.

Knock is thought for his involvement and volunteerism locally, together with two years in the past when he spent three days in Toronto discussing LGBTQ2 issues in the police force.

Members of native LGBTQ2 communities — together with OUTSaskatoon — say Knock’s choice for this sort of occasion is a vital step to have good high quality illustration on the nationwide stage.

“He’s constructing new programs which are much less dangerous to marginalize communities inside an establishment just like the RCMP. That’s so good to see,” mentioned Krystal Nieckar, who serves as govt director for OUTSaskatoon.

Nieckar mentioned it’s important to have this illustration for youth, particularly in rural Saskatchewan, contemplating cops are seen as leaders.

She believes good work is going on within the province to cut back discrimination and that Knock’s participation helps create extra positivity on this entrance.

“To be transferring that needle in conservative communities like Saskatchewan is a reasonably large deal,” Nieckar famous. “To have this chance and be from Saskatchewan is fairly cool.

The nationwide Remembrance Day occasion will broadcast nationally on Thursday.

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Memorial Stone at College of Saskatchewan