BOYLE — A quieter lifestyle is just one of the things the Village of Boyle offers to new residents, and a big part of why Cpl. Gavin Bergey decided a move to the community was the right fit for his young family.
Bergey, 31, took over as the Boyle RCMP Detachment's new non-commissioned officer (NCO) of operations Oct. 12 after more than a decade on the force. Bergey has been with the RCMP since 2011, and after several years working with the high energy, and dangerous Emergency Response Team (ERT) he was looking for a change of pace for his fiancée and young son.
“I started in Fort McMurray, and I did three years of general duty, four years on the crime suppression team and then I went to Edmonton where I worked on the Emergency Response Team,” he said in a Dec. 21 interview. “It'd be like S.W.A.T.; ERT, all capitals for short, where I was a breacher and a sniper.”
He is the first and only one in his family to enter law enforcement; his parents work in Fort McMurray where his sister is a nurse.
“I was born in British Columbia, but moved to Fort McMurray when I was 15, finished high school and played junior hockey and was recruited into the Mounties at 20,” said Bergey.
He chose the RCMP because not only is the job a little different every day, but it also allows him to be part of something bigger, he said.
“Basically, being part of the bigger team,” he said. “I always grew up playing hockey so, teamwork was a big thing for me and something different every day and the excitement are some of the rushes of the job.”
And now he has gone from travelling with the ERT across the Northwest Territories and Northern Alberta to being able to focus on the seven constables right in front of him with more stability of schedule.
“(I’m) trying to push them in the right direction and teach them the things that I learned that I wish I had known at one- and two-years' service,” said Bergey. “Being Operations NCO I go to bigger calls, or higher risk calls to help.”
Having finished his schooling in Fort McMurray, he became familiar with the Boyle region, and loves the outdoors and hunting so when the position came open, he applied and got it, for his family.
“Because of my fiancée and our seven months old,” he said. “So, city life is not for me, and I love the area. My parents are retiring just north of here so, I came to Boyle and was promoted to supervisor.”
Now he and his fiancée, who is from Saskatchewan, and their son are living a quieter rural life — exactly what they both wanted and while the pandemic scrapped their initial plans to get married, they are aiming for a fall wedding in 2022.
“(My parents are) pretty happy that I'm not on ERT anymore with how violent things have been in the past couple of years,” said Bergey. “They're pretty happy because the grandkid is closer now and he's the first grandkid.”
And as for the fiancée, she’s happy too.
“We spent five years in the city together and then it was enough, time for a change, and I will probably never go back to the city now,” he said. “She loves living out here and she likes that I'm home every night too.”
