For Boyle RCMP’s Corporal Doug Fossen, getting the chance to meet the royal couple was a good reward for a job well done.
Fossen and three other RCMP officers, as well as a local sheriff, answered the call for help in May, as fires raged closer and closer to Slave Lake. They joined local and area cops to execute one of the largest evacuations in Canadian history, working tirelessly for 26 hours on the first day, with little sleep for the next day’s difficult task.
They stayed at the Holiday Inn during the ordeal, operating with little food and no showers.
Their role in the large-scale operation was why RCMP officers Fossen, Kevin Woitras and Matt Lapointe and Sheriff Mark Handley were picked to meet the royal couple in Slave Lake a few weeks later.
“Once we found out, we were shocked,” Fossen said. “It’s easy to say we were more than pleasantly surprised.”
As the day they would meet the Duke and Duchess neared, nerves began to peak.
“We had some preparations about how to address them, but really you’re hoping you make a good impression on behalf of the RCMP,” he said.
Once him and his crew got to meet and talk with the couple, all the nerves seemed to pass, reflective of Will and Kate’s down-to-earth personalities and genuine concern about the disaster and emergency efforts.
“It was extremely impressive to see someone as important as them come into the room and speak with every firefighter and first responder in the room,” he said. “They weren’t just interested, but genuinely concerned.”
He said it was one of the most memorable moments in his career, even after working at the Olympics and G8 summit.
