National Youth Services podcast series
Podcasts have quickly become a popular way to communicate certain topics to a large-scale audience. The creation of the RCMP National Youth Services podcast series is anticipated to increase accessibility to our programs and engagement opportunities. Listeners can select and choose a topic or guest speaker depending on their particular interests and listen at their leisure.
Each podcast will consist of National Youth Services staff and a guest pre-selected for the topic by National Youth Services staff. The focus of each podcast will be on RCMP National Youth Services initiatives. Through this medium, youth, educators and RCMP members will have greater options to learn about strategic youth priorities as well as establish a connection between the RCMP and youth within their community.
Episodes
Episode 1: National Youth Services podcast series - Emily Dion
Episode 1: National Youth Services podcast series - Emily Dion
Episode 1: Emily Dion - Transcript
00:00 - Kyle Barber: Good Day Everybody. This is episode one of the National Youth Services Podcast Series, titled "In Colour". Today's episode is a conversation with Emily Dion. Emily is a two-time participant of the National Youth Services Youth Leadership Workshop, hosted annually in Regina, Saskatchewan. This podcast is brought to you by the National Youth Services Program.
00:24: [Music]
00:49 - Kyle Barber: Good Day Everyone. Welcome to the National Youth Services In Colour podcast. We're really excited to be joined by Emily Dion. Emily Dion is a friend of ours who's participated in two Youth Leadership Workshops. If you're not familiar with what the Youth Leadership Workshop is I'll give you a quick breakdown. The National Youth Leadership Workshop is hosted a couple times a year in Regina at Depot. We bring in youth and a member, or a Community Program Officer and a youth from a different division or a different region across Canada, and bring them to Depot for a week-long experience that's unforgettable in many ways. They live where the cadets live, they eat what the cadets eat, they get leadership presentations along the way, and they also get to see what being a cadet at the RCMP is all about and part of this program is, they get to design their own project and bring it back to their community as a way to improve life within their community. I've been fortunate enough to participate at two of these Youth Leadership Workshops alongside our co-host, Adam Burns. Adam, say "hi."
01:49 - Adam Burns: Hello.
01:50 - Kyle Barber: And Alison McIntomny is very excited about going to Regina at some point. She's also said she prefers to go in the summer and we'll talk to Emily about that, who's been to two now: one in August, and one in January. So we'll wait to see which one which one she prefers. But Emily, welcome to the podcast.
02:08 - Emily Dion: Thank you so much
02:10 - Kyle Barber: So you've been fortunate enough to come to two youth leadership workshops. I want to start speaking a little bit about the first one, well actually, maybe tell us a little bit about yourself first and kind of what your interests are, and why when Adam approached you about coming to Regina of all places, you were interested in coming.
02:28 - Emily Dion: Yeah so um my name is Emily Dion, I'm 19 years old. I'm currently going to school for corrections in law enforcement. I do hope to go to depot one day as a cadet, but I was fortunate enough to go as a youth to experience what it was like. Some things I enjoy is traveling, I love listening to podcasts, specifically true crime podcasts; they are my favorite. And yeah, I'm really happy to be here and answer some questions.
03:02 - Kyle Barber: So take us a little bit through the process. Maybe Adam, you can elaborate on this as well. How did you get to hear about the program? How did you, how did you find out you were selected to go? And maybe Adam, how did you go about selecting Emily from your community?
03:21 - Emily Dion: So the way I heard about it was through Adam, obviously. It started grade 12, in high school I wanted to join a extracurricular activity that was outside of my school so I decided to join something called community outreach, which was just when members of the community in my town would get together and do things to help support and make it a better place to live and that's where I met Adam and I noticed he had the RCMP crest on his shirt and that immediately sparked my interest because I think around grade 10, grade 11, is when I really started to invest in the idea of wanting to become a Mountie or some form of law enforcement. So I racked up the courage and I went and I introduced myself to him at the meeting, and I just kind of told him my aspirations and my dreams of being in law enforcement and he was really happy to hear about that. So he gave me the opportunity to go with him to the headquarters in Burnside to be part of the Cyber Crime Committee, and of course I accepted. I was so excited to even have the opportunity to go and in doing that I met someone named Lana, Lana Woodfine. She was the director of the Cyber Crime Committee and again I racked up the courage to say who I was and introduced myself and what I wanted, and she told me that there was a lot of opportunities to go to Depot, and I asked her for some applications which she happily agreed to, and if Adam wants to speak a little bit about that.
05:21 - Adam Burns: Yeah, so previous to meeting Emily, I took another youth out to the National Youth Services meetings and he created the Community Outreach Project, which Emily came to and I remember meeting Emily. She was extremely nervous, and shy, and obviously she's come a long way since then. During her project, she has presented – I'm sure she's going to get into this – but she has presented in classrooms, promoted her project and creating awareness and it's fantastic, she has come a long way. So I was in conversations with National Youth Services back then. They were looking for someone from out east to come out to another project and it was a no-brainer for me to take Emily. Just given that, you know, she was so eager and willing to be a member, and I could just tell that she was the right fit. So we went out the first time and she did a fantastic job and of course they couldn't resist but ask her to go back a second time so Emily if you'd like to talk about maybe your first time at Depot that would be great.
06:42 - Emily Dion: Yeah absolutely. So the first time I went to Depot, like Kyle said, was in August, August 4th to the 11th I believe. I was extremely nervous. I had watched videos of what Depot would look like and kind of get a feel of what it would be like and when I arrived there the videos did it zero justice. It was like, the way I could describe it is like, when a little kid goes to Disney World for the first time, and I know that sounds silly because like most people aren't that excited, but I was so excited to go. And when they opened the gates, and I got to go in, and it was just beautiful, like, it was just a beautiful experience to go in and just see the cadets, and it was like a small, gated community of people, and knowing in your heart that all these people here, are here for the same purpose as you, it just, it made it feel so surreal and incredible and I got to meet all the other youth from all different parts of our country and it was an incredible experience and everyone had amazing stories to tell, and I got to meet the other officers and adults that brought their youth and they were all amazing people, and I got to meet people like Kyle and Louis and they were, they're all great spirited people and I was so eager to just, not only work but learn…learn about Depot, the history, and just really get a good feel of what it would be like, hopefully, in the future, going there as a cadet. And that was a really special experience that I, to this day, love talking about and I love reminiscing on because as you can see, I went to the gift shops and I bought presents for all my family who are incredibly supportive and proud of me, and for that I am truly grateful to the National Youth Services and Adam.
08:55 - Alison McIntomny: How was it when you were meeting the other youth that attended just like you throughout Canada? What was their experience… meeting them and knowing their aspirations on being there as well? Like, how was that?
09:05 - Emily Dion: It was good. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed learning about where the other youth were from and how, although they might have had different ideas of what they wanted to do – some people were in the you know cadets in the military or, you know, they just wanted to be a police officer not necessarily a, you know, Depot cadet, and that was that was great. I liked learning about what differences they all shared, and as a whole, I was just really happy to have people, a group of youth, that all wanted generally the same thing I did, and to hear about their dreams and their aspirations and what they wanted to do for their communities was… it was an amazing experience. And I was so happy to see that other youth across Canada wanted to help their communities and have the dreams of making it a better place, not only their community, but maybe other parts of Canada and it was just, it was amazing, and I was really happy to see that.
10:16 - Adam Burns: Emily, can you touch base on the project that you selected from the first time you went?
10:21 - Emily Dion: Yeah, so the first time, I went, you (Adam) and me decided to do… I think we agreed on there was a really big drug problem in our community as well as mental health, and as someone who is openly an advocate for mental health, I thought it would be a really great topic to talk about because, like I said from personal experience and from my friends and acquaintances that I know that struggled a lot and didn't have an outlet to express how they felt, or felt like they didn't have anywhere to go to talk about it. It was something that I really just resonated with and I thought it would be a really great idea to, sort of, incorporate the two and how they could relate to each other and how to prevent things happening like drugs because of mental health, and so you [Adam] and me came up with a really good idea to just go to schools, specifically younger schools, elementary schools, and middle, and high school, obviously, and just talk about my personal experiences with mental health and ways that people can help themselves with that, and opportunities that are available that we were planning on doing so they could have an outlet to go and not feel so alone about it, and I was really happy with that. I think that doing that, it opened my…my eyes and expanded my knowledge on mental health and how important and serious it was as well as drugs in my community. It was something that really disappointed me to see, especially in youth that are so young, young as elementary school doing it, and it was just something that I knew that I had to address, so, yeah.
12:22 - Kyle Barber: So you, you talk a little bit earlier about how when you first met Adam, you were really nervous, and then to transition from going from the Youth Leadership Workshop, developing a project to speak on mental health initiatives and drugs in your community. Can you talk about, like, maybe the first presentation you gave? Like, how nervous were you giving that first presentation, because, like, those are not easy topics to talk about, you need to be a little bit vulnerable in yourself and a little bit confident in yourself to do that. So from meeting Adam, who really, like, is… is a super welcoming guy, he's an easy guy to talk to, being nervous about that, to talking to other youth about these vulnerable topics, like, that must have been a very difficult kind of, like, path that you've taken over a couple years and just, maybe, speak to, like, how nervous you were, how that first one went, and how you developed a little more confidence to keep doing them.
13:14 - Emily Dion: Yeah, so I was incredibly nervous. I had almost no self-confidence in myself that I could do a good job. Being a perfectionist, it was hard, because I would rather, you know, not speak about it just to avoid the idea of messing up. I hated it, but when I met Adam and we went to Depot, and we worked on our presentation together, and we kind of grew, like, a stronger bond, he was just it made it so much easier because he's… he's kind of like me, … we share jokes and, like you said, he was really easy to talk to. And not only that, I was presenting in front of youth who were in the same boat as I was, you know. I had no idea if these youths had presented in front of people. I couldn't imagine how nervous they would have been. And there were some youth there that were amazing presenters. I remember one who, on the first day, when she was asked to talk about herself, she asked if she could stand up and walk around the room, and that was amazing. It was nice to see that she was so eager to talk and so open. It was… it was nice. So when I presented, me and Adam thought it would be a good idea to do, you know, just add some little funny pictures and GIFs in my presentation, just to make it easier to transition from slide to slide, because, like you said, it was a really difficult topic to talk about and, you know, there was a group of adults there that I had to present in front of and, you know, I was extremely nervous about that. But like I said, it was just, I focused more on the youth, knowing that they were just as nervous as I was, and I just wanted to speak on what I was talking about and do it in a professional but also relaxed way. And before my presentation, I did listen to another great presentation on how to properly speak about presentations and how important it is to calm your nerves and have a drink with you so you can clear your throat. I took a lot of information from that and I used it in my presentation, and as far as I'm concerned, me and Adam did a fantastic job, and I look back on it and I had no regrets, which in the first time in my life, was an amazing feeling, because any other time I would have presented, I would have thought I did a horrible job, no matter how good people would have told me I did, I… I would always see the little problems with it. But that presentation, I could see that they were engaged in the topic that I was speaking about, but also relating to it and laughing at the jokes and just little pictures that I put in there, just to kind of ease off the tension of, you know, the topic itself. So all in all, it was a really great experience and I was really happy with it.
16:28 - Kyle Barber: How many presentations have you delivered now?
16:31 - Emily Dion: Oh my goodness. Probably more than I can count on my hand and that's… with Adam and going and doing presentations across schools, maybe one… two…I'd say like four or five, around that, and of course I've done presentations without him, and being in school I've had to do a presentation and like I said, using that knowledge that I had before with that presentation at Depot that taught us how to properly present a presentation. I use that knowledge to this day and it not only makes me a better presenter, it makes it easier for me to engage the people that are listening to it and make sure they are understanding what I'm talking about and not just reading from a slide, you know. I, I relate to them, and I'm very personal with the group that I'm presenting to, because I don't want to just present and you know have it be done with: I want them to listen, I want them to think about what I'm presenting, and ask as many questions as possible, because I believe that no question is a bad question, you know? I think a lot of youth that are, that are kind of nervous to talk about it. I've had a lot of them come up to me after my presentation when all the other people left and, you know, they wanted to speak to me privately because they were embarrassed to ask the questions, that they were, you know, were afraid of ridicule from their, you know, peers and their friends, and I told them that that shouldn't ever be an issue and every question is valid and that they shouldn't be afraid to ask them. So yeah, my presentations are… they mean a lot to me, they do. I work really hard on them, I practice them, and yeah, they mean so much to me and I'm so, so grateful that I was able to present at Depot for the youth.
18:46 - Adam Burns: Emily, can you talk a little bit about how you have grown and changed since that that time of Depot because if somebody knew you before and now watch this video, I mean, the change in you has been dramatic, can you touch base on that a little bit?
19:05 - Emily Dion: Yeah absolutely. So when I arrived to Depot, like I said, I was a really nervous person. I was, had so much anxiety and I was a perfectionist - I still am, it's something that I still struggle with. It's something that I have to learn how to cope with and I think I realized instead of hiding it away, hiding away the anxiousness and the perfectionism, I learned how to accept it as part of myself and I use it to my advantage and I think I'm a different person today. Obviously with time, you know, time it… it shapes you, it molds you into a different person, especially when you go through something so drastic as, you know, going to Depot for me, which was an incredible experience that I never thought I would be able to go. I never thought I'd be able to go and see what it's like firsthand. So that, that time when I went and I went home, I was a different person, I changed within that week. I gained not only a sense of community, I gained knowledge, and I embraced who I was, and I was no longer afraid to, you know, get my name out there and speak about who I was and what I wanted, because before that I thought I didn't deserve it. I thought I didn't do enough, I wasn't good enough, and that there's people that are always going to be better than me and it was a really big struggle that I had, and it, like I said, I still struggle with that sometimes to this day. But being at Depot for the first and second time, I was a completely changed person and being able to bring home that person and show my friends and family who I'd become within that week and who I was going to be in the next few years was an incredible feeling. It was amazing because I was someone who loved to talk about what I wanted, and how I wanted to help and lead, and help other people be better, and I never thought I could because I had that crippling fear. And it's a… it was a huge struggle and now that some time has gone by, I've presented, I've gone to Depot, I've spoken with hundreds of people, I've met really important people and I've met youth that are… were like me, that were too nervous to speak. I've kind of gotten a taste of what it's like to be on both sides, and really embracing it, like, being at my lowest, to being at my highest and I think, you know, with time it'll only get better and better from there, because doing things like this, like a podcast, I was nervous for it. I am nervous for it right now, but I'm doing it, I'm doing the best I can, and I just hope that, you know, people listen and they get to, you know, see what it's like at Depot and hopefully they get inspired. That's what it's about: inspiration, you know, and I think that's a really special thing and I'm really grateful that I've molded into the person I am today, and I couldn't have done it, I couldn't have done it without Depot. I couldn't have done it without Lana; seeing that spark in my eyes of the, you know, wanting to go to Depot and, and obviously Adam seeing that spark in my eye. I was so nervous; I was so, so nervous, I almost didn't do it. I almost didn't go up and introduce myself to Adam. If I never had, I wouldn't be here and honestly, I don't like to think about that because my life is going so great. I'm in school, I'm learning, and I'm just growing as an individual every single day in a good way, so I'm so grateful for that.
23:35 - Kyle Barber: I think one of the coolest things that we saw at Depot the first time you were there was when you got to march with the troop. Can you maybe talk about that experience?
23:46 - Emily Dion: Absolutely. When I got to march with the troop… so I will say we were in a gym just playing soccer, floor hockey, stuff like that with the youth, and they were all, you know, the activities were done and they were all leaving the gym, and I remember Louis and Adam kind of pulled me aside and they asked me if I wanted to march with the troop that was coming into practice. And the feeling, it was like a feeling of euphoria, like, is this really happening? Like, I'm really about to go do this. And at first, I was like hell no, I don't want to be in that troop, I don't want, you know, a drill sergeant yelling at me to march. I don't want to step on people's feet and make an idiot of myself. So in that, like, millisecond of thought I'm like, "Emily you're here for a reason," you know. My someone who is a huge impact in my life is my dad. He is my biggest supporter and before I went, he said, "Make your mark there. Be the best you can be, and show them who you are." So, of course, I agreed! I was so excited and they all started to march in and line up in a row. So I kind of, you know, waddled myself over and squeezed myself into the, to the cadets and you know I looked side to side, and they were all kind of straight faced and I introduced myself, and they were so, so sweet, and I apologized. I'm like, "sorry if I step in your guy's feet," like, this is my first time, please don't, don't mind me! Because I thought that they were really, you know, like, tough people and they were going to be really strict and straight, but they were, like, humans! And I didn't see them as that for a minute because I'm like, "oh I'm going to get trampled." But they kind of, you know, they were like, "hi, this is my name, it's nice to meet you." and "I'm going to help you as best as I can to make sure that you march with us properly." And it was an incredible experience and as soon as I caught my breath to, you know, take a deep breath in and be like, "okay I'm going to do this," they were already starting, so they started marching. I was like, looking to my sides and I'm like, "oh god what am I doing?" and they were, you know, they were marching, and I believe it was another cadet that was drilling them, and they kind of they went in a circle, so I just kind of followed along with their body movements and I just kind of saw Adam and Louis in the corner of my eye, and they were taking pictures of me and I was, I was some, like, not embarrassed, but like, I was just so like, "oh god what am I doing?" and it was just, it was an incredible moment and it's one of my favourite moments, I have to say, about Depot, because, and… this is something I really hold on to because a few months before I went, I had lost my grandmother really suddenly, and it was really hard on me because she was one of my biggest supporters to be in the RCMP. And she as a grandmother of course, was afraid of what would happen and what could happen and but she was also so happy that I wanted to do this and I had an idea of where I wanted to go in life. So when I marched with them, I kind of just thought in my head, like, I just kind of paused, you know, my body was moving but my brain was just, kind of stagnant was just, and I just stopped, I'm like, "she would be so proud of me right now." And after that, just kind of, second of self-reflection, I kind of, like, puffed up my chest, I took a deep breath in, and I just, as proudly as I could, marched as best as I could with this troop and I immediately felt a sense of community, of a sense of family, and I just, I just did what I did, and it was, it was nerve-wracking, it was exciting, like I said, it was euphoric, and it was just an amazing experience and I just wish I, I wish they never stopped. I wish I could have just kept going, and kept going, kept going, and I was starting to really get the hang of it, and oh, and then they stop and I'm just like "you guys are… you guys… aren't finished yet, like, let's keep going!" but obviously they were, you know, in a little more of a professional position than I was and I had to unfortunately leave so they could practice, but when I left, like, I was just grinning ear to ear and I like, like I am right now because I'm thinking about it, and it just, it sparked something in my heart, and just an absolute, just, love and passion for it, and I just knew this is what I want to do, these are the people I want to be with, and I thought, I thought Depot was the perfect place for, you know, people around our country to come and, you know, be in this small community and want the same things in life and I thought it was an amazing place for that because it was just such a… a beautiful sense of, of togetherness and helping each other, and it really did it felt like a family, you know. Even though I didn't know a lot of these people, it felt like a family, and that was throughout Depot, you know, like, this is my place, these are my people, you know what I mean? So after that, we went to the mess hall for supper or lunch or something, and Adam kind of nudged my arm. He's like, "there's your troop, are you going to go sit with them?" I'm like, "oh my gosh, no I can't. I'm too scared." He's like, "go sit with them" and then the cadet that was right next to me on my right side, he was walking with his tray and he's like, "oh hey Emily". I literally stopped in my tracks. I'm like, "you remember who I am? Like how do you remember me? Like the kid that was, like, almost, you know, stomping on your foot?" and I'm like, "oh my gosh, wow" and for that second I really did feel like I was in that troop. It did, and I wanted to hold on to that feeling, but I knew with time I would be there for real, and I would have my own troop, my family, this gathering of people to help each other, you know, want the same things in life, and that was an incredible experience and I still reminisce on it to this day.
30:49 - Adam Burns: So Emily, clearly you would like to be an RCMP member. Can you talk about when you decided that was the road that you were going to go and how your family supported you?
31:03 - Emily Dion: yeah, so, like I said before, I definitely got the sense of wanting to do something with law enforcement around grade 10 or 11. I started investing my time to study about it and watch videos of different organizations, including Depot, including the RCMP. And I think the RCMP really stuck with me because it was just, it seemed, like, up my alley; like, it just it was nice. I love to travel. I love to explore, and help, and lead, and I felt like Depot was definitely the right job for me, because I've always, kind of, had this idea of serving a civil duty, I just enjoyed it. It was, my mom was in the military so she, kind of, ingrained into my head that I thought I was going to do any type of civil duty would be like in the military, and I'm like, "well, what about military police?" She's like "oh, you can do military police" but then my dad was like, "you should look up the RCMP. I feel like that would be more of your style," and he was definitely right on that. It was definitely my style, definitely my sort of thing. And my parents were huge supporters of it, you know. Although my mom kind of was more pushing towards military, my dad was pushing more towards law enforcement, RCMP, and municipal policing and stuff like that. They supported me throughout everything, you know. As a parent, you have that initial fear of, "oh my God, my child wants to be a law enforcement officer, like, what could happen that's the real world?" But I never thought of it that way. I never thought of it as, like, "it's going to be, you know, you know, there's a potential of this, this, and this happening." Never thought of it like that. I just thought of wanting to help my community, wanting to keep it safe, make it a better place, engage with the people in my community, you know? Because I wasn't just there to serve. I was there to, you know, be a part of that community, and I thought that was… I thought that, kind of, made it really clear of what I wanted. It kind of all, kind of connected in my head, like, "this is what I want, the RCMP is the, the route I want to take, and my parents are supportive of it. Everyone in my immediate family is supportive, supportive of it." And not that that, you know, makes it more, you know, real. It was something I wanted; I knew I wanted it. So, and I mean, I was like, "Where do I start? What do I do?" And I like when I go back to thinking of, wanting to join the community outreach, you know, I was hesitant about it because I'm, like, I'm really nervous. I don't like, you know, talking in front of people. But you know, I sucked it up and I'm like. "This is something I want to do. I want to help my community, something I want to do in the future, as a job." So I did and this is where it's led me today, and here I am speaking to you guys, and I mean, as far as I'm concerned I'm going to... It's pretty good, it worked out pretty well in my favour.
34:33 - Kyle Barber: So we talk a little bit about your first experience at Depot and how amazing it was, and then we called you, well, we called Adam on very short notice, and we're like, "We need you, we need Emily to come back."
34:48 - Emily Dion: Yeah.
34:39 - Kyle Barber: What was that phone call or run in with Adam? Did you think he was joking with you, or like… Take us through that conversation. You're like, "yeah, you're joking", probably… like if Wayne Gretzky called me for whatever reason, I'd be like, "yeah, sure you're Wayne Gretzky" and hang up on him. Like, was that like a similar type thing? or were you like, and then did Adam have to call back and like, "you're actually going!" Like, how did that conversation go?
35:11 - Emily Dion: Yeah, I can tell you exactly how it went because I remember it really fondly. So it was January. I was working at my local Canadian Tire. I was a service advisor, in the garage, and I was just, you know, nodding off because it was a boring day, and I got a call and it said Adam on it. I'm like "oh it's Adam, okay, like, what does he want to talk about? Probably something to do with, like, our presentations and stuff." So I just want to… I just want you to keep in mind that my boss is my dad, was my dad. So Adam called me and he's like, "hey, what are you doing in these, like, next few weeks?" I'm like "you know, working, nothing really important". He's like, "do you want to go to Depot again?" Like, I'm like "uh excuse me?" He's like, "yeah, you want to go to Depot. We have another opportunity to go. We're going in, like, a week," This was, like, a week before we went. Like I, when I'm going somewhere, when I travel, I do, I like, I prepare, like, two months in advance. That's the type of person I am. So when he's like, "yeah, you want to go?" Of course I said Yes! I was ecstatic. I was like, "you're joking!" He's like, "I'm really not. Do you want to go?" And I just kind of, for a second, I put my phone on mute, so he couldn't hear me. I started jumping around. I literally ran to my dad's office and I'm like, "I'm going to Depot next week, you know book me off in time." And then I answered Adam again. I'm like. "yeah, yeah I'll see you there, at the airport in like a week I'll see you then!" and I hung up. And, like, that day, just turned into like, just a scream fest of excitement. I like, I jumped up and I ran to my dad and I'm like, "Dad, I'm going to Depot again, like I'm going in like a week!". And he's like, "are you serious?" And I'm like, "yeah Adam just called me, and he said that they want us to come back." and he's just like, "I'm already booking off your time, like, I'm just putting x's on the calendar for when you're not going to be here, like, go enjoy your time. I hope you have an amazing time," you know. "Like I said before, put your name out there, you know, and enjoy it, enjoy it." That was the most important thing I think he said to me was, just enjoy it, because the first time it was all, like, you know, new and fresh, and you know, I didn't really get to… I did enjoy it and like I, you know, I remember it but it was all kind of like, a big dream, you know, and I didn't really get to really get a taste of what it was like. It was just more like, in awe of looking around, and, you know, seeing what I've been looking through my screen for the last three months. And now, I'm looking at it in real life, and he's just like, "enjoy your time there. Like, you and Adam, I hope you have the best time." And so, you know, we went, and it was January. Very different from August. I thought Nova Scotia weather was cold… no no no, no, January in Saskatchewan, dry, cold and dry,… it was freezing, frigid. It was much different than the first time I went. Not bad, not any worse. It was just, I liked the, I liked the idea of being able to go in the summer and in the winter because now I know. I know if I apply, I know when I'm going …let's just say that, you know. I know what months I want to pick to try to, to try to get myself into. I don't think that January's going to, you know, be the one I choose. But you know, only time will tell. I got a feeling of both of them now. So if I go in January, then I'll be prepared to yeah, bring a lot of scarves, a lot of face masks, and a lot of Chapstick. So that was an incredible experience. So when he called me on that, I immediately just left work started packing, and off I was in, like, next two, you know, week or so. I was off, and we got there, and I kind of knew the knew what was going to happen. I kind of just, kind of, you know, expected what it was going to be like before and I went from there. It was incredible.
39:43 - Kyle Barber: So obviously the second time you went, you weren't as, just like, a new youth participating in the program. You were, kind of, brought in as a leadership role. How was your relationship with the youth that participated the second time as opposed to the first? Did you, did you, kind of, embrace that leadership role or were you just, kind of one of the crew? How do you think that went?
40:03 - Emily Dion: It went good. I remember the first day. So naturally I'm just an early, early riser, but we, I believe we had breakfast at the Mess Hall around 7:30 I believe, and um you know I was up at six, you know, getting uniform on. putting my hair up. And I was, it was the first time in my life that I was genuinely eager to meet people I didn't know. I was eager… me and Adam, we went to the mess hall. It was freezing cold and it was dark, and we went in there and I just, at the very end of the, the, the mess hall there was two people and their adults that took them there. It was a young girl from Newfoundland and the other was a girl from PEI, and so I kind of got my breakfast and I went right up to them, I sat down, I said, "Hi, my name is Emily Dion, I'm here with the Youth Leadership Workshop and it's great to be here. What's your name? Like, where are you from?" And they were in my position from August. They were like looking at each other like, "this girl is crazy, like, why is she so excited right now, it's like, seven in the morning." And, but they were super nice and super sweet, and they introduced themselves, and we just got to chatting and, you know, one after another the youth started showing up and I asked them what their names were, and where they were from. And this time I went it was all Indigenous youth, which was a really special experience. So we got to learn about their Indigenous backgrounds, and their communities that they come from, which was incredible because I had no idea. I was like, "this was all new to me," and I was learning it for the first time and I was eager to ask them questions, and as far as leadership… the leadership role went, I never was really the type of person like, because I know a lot of people when they have a leadership role they, they kind of act like they know everything and, like, they're, you know, they're the adult. And I, I didn't do that, I definitely didn't go to my head. I remained just as, you know, I was eager to talk to them, that was about it. They had questions for me, like when I went before, and I definitely was happy to answer for them, and like, when we did things and they were like, "what's going on?" I'm like, "oh yeah, they're just doing this, don't worry about it, like, you know, we're just going here for a minute." And yeah, that's kind of as far as it went. But I think, it wasn't leadership-wise, it was just more of gaining a friendship between them, and you know, being able to talk to them, you know, person-to-person. And I made some really great relationships with them and, kind of, I connected to them on a lot of stuff that was happening in their communities, especially stuff like mental health, and I believe even at one point, there was a girl there that was kind of shy, and she didn't want to go swimming at the pool, and so, you know, we all kind of, you know, got her, got her eager enough to want to go and she didn't have a bathing suit, so we were at the mall in Regina, and I went in Louis' car with Adam and this girl, and me and her went to a local Walmart and we just kind of, I helped her shop around for some bathing suits and she was, like, so grateful for that. And I don't see that as… I didn't, at first, I didn't see it as something that, like, was a big deal. I was just helping her out, but like, from another person's perspective it was, like, wow, like, it's nice to see that she's really engaging with these people and, you know, making them feel better. Because a lot of them were nervous, you know, even I was nervous the second time I went. I always am – I'm nervous all the time. But it's just the way it's just the way I, you know, hold myself as a person, and it was really nice to just help this girl out and make her feel comfortable, and, you know, eager to do things and not so shy. And to this day I still keep in contact with all of them. We all have a big group chat on Snapchat, and we all text each other and we update our lives every few weeks. They're just like, "how are you guys doing? like what are you guys up to?" And I know one of them is in the military and the other one is doing training, and a lot of them like to just keep in contact with each other. I know two girls, that were from the second time we went, they, they're, like, really good friends now, and I'm like, "that's amazing!" Because it's like, you know, you go to this, you know, you go, you go to Saskatchewan, Regina, you have no idea what it's like, you have no idea who these people are, but leaving, you're like, you now have someone that is really close to you and I'm really, really thankful and grateful that they, they all were sweet, sweet people. And to this day I'm so happy that they're all sticking to, with what they wanted to do when they got there. They're all still sticking to the idea of law enforcement and they still want to help their communities, and they're really funny, you know. I really like them a lot and I wish them all the best of luck.
46:00 - Alison McIntomny: There is an ongoing debate and we ask this to all of our podcasts who've been to Depot. What was your favourite treat that was offered at all the meals, because these boys have different opinions. [laughs] It's an ongoing debate, so you can settle the debate!
46:12 - Emily Dion: Yeah, so I will tell you that in my presentation that I present to the, you know, the kids and schools, I have a specific slide that just says, like, the food was amazing. and like everyone was supposed to laugh, but they didn't. I'm like, "okay, okay," because I guess they didn't relate food as amazing as I thought it was. If you're referring to what they offered us for snacks in between breaks for the, like, workshop portion, I believe they had like gigantic cinnamon buns, those were incredible… incredible. I mean, they had, like, fruit trays and veggie trays and I'm like, promote, you know, healthy eating. But you know, cinnamon buns were like, that big! You can't go wrong with that, right? That's a whole meal! As far as the mess hall, they had an ice cream machine, and they had, like, an entire bar of just treats, and they had – I believe the last night I was there, I had red velvet cake, and I had, like, three-cheese tortellini pasta, with, like, an orange creamsicle slushie. So like I said, I promote healthy living, healthy eating definitely… don't be scared to go, don't be scared that you're not going to, you know, have something good to eat. Let's just say that. And the National Youth Services, all the leaders that were there, were so great with supplying those snacks. Like, you know, sometimes when you go places and they're like, "yeah we're going to provide snacks" and they have, like, a bowl of pretzels and, like, bottles of water. No, they had, they had cinnamon buns, they had chips, veggies, fruit trays, they had juice boxes, water bottles. They, I believe, one point they brought in pizza at the very end, which was… I love pizza, so, you know, you can't go wrong with good pizza! That's, that's the true, that's a true dish. Where everyone can just sit in a circle and just, you know, enjoy that pizza together and that was amazing, but I loved all the food there. I mean, I, I was like, you know, I was like, okay, I'm like, you're, it's fine, like, don't be worried if they don't have food, you don't, like, it's like, you know, because I'm a picky eater, I couldn't, I couldn't choose enough options, there were, they were so… there was overwhelming amount of options there. Especially for when we went on break during the actual workshop portion. It was very, they were very accommodating, so I will say that.
48:53 - Kyle Barber: Well, I think when you went the first time, the first night when everybody gets there. We order pizza and there definitely wasn't enough because Jacob did the order. The second time, that's when I did the order, it was much better, I would think, because, like, Jacob ordered, like, three pizzas for like 30 people the one time.
49:08 - Emily Dion: Yeah.
49:09 - Kyle Barber: We ripped him when he was on the podcast earlier about that so I just thought I would mention that again.
49:14 - Emily Dion: Yeah. I know definitely, uh definitely, uh, listen to Kyle when it comes to ordering stuff. When it comes to really anything, he's your man, he's the guy to go to.
49:20 - Kyle Barber: And I'm glad you backed me up on the cinnamon buns because I was…
49:25 - Emily Dion: Right? You'd never expect something like that, like, a whole cinnamon bun like…
49:29 - Kyle Barber: You can only get them one day a week there. So, like, we always set it up for, like, the Thursday morning. We always get an order in. So it's, it's definitely something that, like, we'll have to keep going if we run another one of these workshops.
49:39 - Emily Dion: Absolutely, because I think when you have a group of youth that are tired and they woke up early, and you give them a gigantic cinnamon bun with sugar icing on it, you'll definitely get their attention…for sure, for sure. So that was, that was a very smart decision, and for sure, keep it going.
50:01 - Alison McIntomny: Are there any certain areas of policing that you actually see yourself doing?
50:07 - Emily Dion: At this moment? Like I said before I am going to school for corrections and law enforcement. And to be to be really honest, I'm trying to keep my options open. I've seen a lot of different presentations from different recruiters, you know, commissioner RCMP, HRP, which is the municipal policing here in Halifax. And I think I really want to just keep my options open for now. There …when I was at the Cyber Crime Committee in Burnside at the headquarters, they did show us a small portion of different units within the headquarters that were just really interesting and honestly, some of them are just, they take a lot out of you, mentally and physically. They're really, you know, some, some jobs there that require a lot of, you know, mental strength, I would say. And a lot of them were really great to learn about and they, I definitely kept them in mind. But I think, I'm only 19 years old, and I'm still growing, and I'm still learning about who I am, and who I want to be when I'm, you know, an adult, and I think that keeping my options open at this point in time would be really beneficial to me and not choosing something that maybe I'm not as invested in as I could be in another unit. But I love seeing all of it, you know, a regular, regular person could just be like, "Yeah the police officers, they, you know, they patrol, and they arrest people, and that's it." But when you are on the inside and you really learn about the specific units of each specific detachment and doing specific things that, you know, because you, kind of, just all group the police officers together and assume that they all do it. That's not true, you know. There's specific people that do specific things for the officers to help them and I think that was, that was definitely an eye-opener because I'm like, you know, I was like, I'm like, "oh they don't do it all?" You know. So honestly I think the RCMP is what I want, as far as like a unit or specification of what I want to do. I'm going to keep that as, just keep it in the air as, you know, undecided, but hopefully one day I will find out and I'm going to love it and be super passionate about it.
52:59 - Adam Burns: Emily, is there anywhere in Nova Scotia that you would like to go once you become a member? Is there any certain area that you'd like to do?
53:07 - Emily Dion: I don't think so. I feel like, I feel like Nova Scotia is such a beautiful place and even myself, living here my entire life, you know, I'm from the Valley, I never, I haven't explored all of it yet. I've explored a, you know, pretty good proportion. I've been to Cape Breton. I've been to places you know like, Antigonish, and, you know Yarmouth, and places like that. So I've been, like, you know, around it, and there's no real specific detachment that I would keep myself at because I am just such a traveler. I love to travel. I love visiting other places, and I specifically love visiting places within Canada. And what I like about the RCMP is, is that it's not exclusive to just Canada, it's worldwide, you know. There's places that RCMP officers can go that are, you know, in places like Germany, in Europe, you know. And that's, just thinking about that, is an exciting, you know, thought. But as far as Nova Scotia, I love all of Nova Scotia, you know. I love every part of it, and if they placed me in a, you know, a detachment that was away from where I initially thought I'd be, I would be just as content because I'm there for the reason of, you know, helping, supporting, teaching the community there, and, and, really, listening, which I think is such an important thing as an officer…is to listen to your community. And I think anywhere you can engage with the community and they're supportive and, you know, you can protect them and keep them safe, that's, that's all that matters to me. So I have been to different detachments, like I said I'm from the Valley. I've been to a detachment in New Minas. It was, like, just freshly built. I've been inside of it and got to see what it was like. It was beautiful. I got to see all the different little units that they have within it, and the gentleman that took me was like, "this is what it's like, this is what some of the detachments look like," and others are, like, older buildings, like, the, one the one up here in lower Sackville, I've seen that one and I think they're all, it's all just, it's all just a building at the end of the day. The important thing is, is the, the community that surrounds that building. So that is the extended answer of, "No, I don't mind going anywhere and I don't really have a specific detachment."
55:51 - Kyle Barber: Well this is great. Like, I think you really painted a great picture of A: why I love this program so much and why we're really hopeful that once COVID-19 is wrapped up, hopefully across Canada we can run another one in the near future and get more people back to Depot because we've kind of talked about maybe running it at alternate sites, like maybe, maybe we can do one and, like, just regionally out in the Atlantic, we can do one maybe Western Canada, but I think if you don't go to Depot, I think you lose a little bit of the program, right? So I think you kind of painted that picture. So Alison, Adam, do you guys have any final questions for Emily? No? Okay, well, Emily, thanks a lot for hanging out with us and like, like I said when I met you the first time, to kind of hearing you talk about your experience now, you've definitely come a long way. You've grown a lot and I think you're one of the shining examples of why this program has been so successful and why we're very eager to kind of run it again in the future. So you are officially a friend of the podcast, which I know is a big deal because we've only run three podcasts so far. But you know what, you're, you're one of our best friends of the podcast and anytime we've called you on short notice or needed anything from you, we know you've always helped us out, and if, if and when you are successful to become a cadet at Depot I hope you let us know and we'll be really proud of you.
57:15: [Music]
57:16 - Emily Dion: Thank you so much for having me, and thank you for giving me this experience to add to the amazing memories of what Depot and what the National Services has done for me and I just want to thank each and every one of you for giving me this opportunity.
57:30 - Kyle Barber: This episode of In Colour has been a podcast from RCMP National Youth Services Program.
The first podcast for the RCMP National Youth Services team highlights Emily Dion and her life experiences. She discusses her life goals as well as the obstacles that have created challenges along the way. She discusses how she overcame those obstacles and where she is in her journey, as well as the positive impacts the National Youth Services has had on her life.
Emily has taken part in various RCMP initiatives and has been to Regina with National Youth Services twice. She is currently in school and hopes to become a police officer someday.
- February 9, 2022
- 57:44 minutes
- Date modified: