Constable Christian Thibodeau

Constable Christian Thibodeau was named today as RCMP Police Service (Sault Ste. Marie Detachment) Officer of the Year.

Thibodeau was one of four area officers recognized at a luncheon organized by the Sault Ste. Marie Chamber of Commerce.

Other recipients were:

Constable Jason Rains Constable Marc Lesage Constable Monique Baker

Here's what they said today about Constable Lesage:

********************** (As prepared by the RCMP, and presented by Constable Dan Chevalier)

RCMP Police Service (Sault Ste. Marie Detachment) Officer of the Year

Constable Christian Thibodeau

Constable Christian Thibodeau was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where he graduated from Korah Collegiate.

Chris attended the RCMP Training Academy in 1994/1995 and in April 1995 was posted to Oxford-House Manitoba, a Northern Manitoba fly-in detachment, where he performed general duties.

In August of 1997, Chris was transferred to Lundar, Manitoba, where he performed general duties until 2000, when he transferred to his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie.

Since being in Sault Sate. Marie, he has worked on the Drug Section, the Integrated Border Enforcement Team and the Federal Enforcement Section.

Chris volunteered his services to the United Nations Stabilization mission in Haiti.

While in Haiti, Chris worked in a variety of different areas, which I will share with you:

He worked in Fort Liberty, a northern community with no running water or electricity.

He was the Chief of Personnel as well as a Technical Advisor for the Haitian National Police, which included identifying their operational needs and tutoring of officers.

Chris also worked in Cap Haitian, the 2nd largest city in Haiti where he performed the same duties as in Fort Liberty.

Chris was eventually moved to the Capital of Haiti, Port Au Prince, where he was a Technical Advisor on patrols, which also included patrols with the military through the poor districts La Saline, Cite du Soleil where gunfire is a regular occurrence.

Near the end of his mission, Chris was placed in the United Nations Headquarters where he worked in Personnel.

Chris was in charge of the transfer of United Nations personnel throughout Haiti, as well as ensuring personnel received their allotted time off.

Chris was also responsible for ensuring that officers from countries assisting them were armed with firearms and ammunition.

Chris was also involved in a drive by Canadians in Haiti to collect money and goods for an orphanage in Haiti, which was run by Canadian Nuns.

In total they were able to raise approximately $4,000, which was used to purchase food and batteries for the orphanage.

The batteries act as inverters for electricity which the orphanage lacked.

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