Did you know that Portage College plays host to some of Western Canada’s future conservation and wildlife officers?
This summer, the hallways, parking lots, playing fields and classrooms of Lac La Biche’s Portage College were once again the training ground for the newest batch of Western Canada’s conservation and fish and wildlife officers.
Over four months this past summer, the recruits of Troop 27 in the Western Conservation Law Enforcement Academy (WCLEA) stayed in Portage College dorms and trained in many areas of the Portage College campus. During the training, it wasn’t unusual to see uniformed officers in and around the college and community taking part in scenarios for high-risk arrests, criminal searches, animal-human interactions, and other dynamic scenarios. The recruits were also seen around the community, taking part in group runs and other fitness challenges.
The training is a partnership between Portage College and the WCLEA. The partnership has been running for the last several years.
“We provide the location, they provide the instruction,” says Portage College Registrar and Director of Student Services Curtis Cadieux. “The feedback over the years is positive and both the College and the WCLEA are grateful for the partnership.”
Recruits in the WCLEA come from across Western Canada, including the Yukon.
The training takes place over the summer months when there are no students or faculty members in the building. Staff who work year-round are given regular updates on weekly training schedules and told about training events that require portions of the building to have restricted access.
Troop 27 had its graduation ceremony at the end of August.
Photo: facebook/ConservationOfficerService
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Although the conservation officer training runs independently from the peace officer training offered at the Lac La Biche County Law Enforcement Training Centre — also in partnership with Portage College — there have been some cross-over opportunities, says Cadieux.
“There is no direct link, but they do collaborate and have a relationship while they are here,” he explains, adding that the WCLEA training helps to showcase the community to recruits and training officers from across Western Canada. “Recruits stay on campus and also some of the officers who run the program. The instructors usually stay in the communities in hotels as they have different instructors for different phases of the program.”
The next WCLEA class of recruits is expected to be at Portage College next May.