Profiles in Policing – Celebrating 50 Years of Women Serving in the RCMP
Meet Cpl. (ret'd) June Ramsay
Regimental No. 33688
On January 1, 1975 product labelling in Canada switched to the metric system, in April our weather temperatures were first reported in Celsius and the CN Tower was completed. 1975 also saw the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the creation of Petro-Canada, and the opening of Mirabel Airport in Montreal, Quebec. But more importantly, in 1975 June Ramsay signed up for training at the Atlantic Police Academy and kicked off what would become a policing career lasting 37 years and 6 months.
After graduation from the Police Academy, June would spend the next ten months working for Charlottetown Police Services. She loved police work and her brother mentioned to June that the RCMP had started training women to be Mounties…if she loved it so much she should join the Force. Well in October of 1976, that's exactly what she did.
"That was the easiest six months of my career," says June. "I was told what to do, when to do it, where to do it and how to do it! I enjoyed almost every minute of it and I'd go back and do it again," she adds. June was part of Troop 13, the only all female troop during her time at Depot. June admits she really didn't know what she was in for when joining the RCMP, but she knew she wanted to serve her community. "Helping people, that's why I really wanted from a career as a police officer," says June. "I look back on my career now, and there were so many times we were able to really help people."
In training, June recalls, you did everything as a troop, fostering teamwork - the saying was 'ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!' As with all troops, when you initially get to Depot and start training, you are all issued the same clothing (called fatigues) which is worn when you start your day, until your training day is over. During her time at Depot, June remembers the men were issued pants and t-shirts, and the women were issued blue coveralls. You all had to look alike so what one wore, you all had to wear. "It was winter and cold, when I was there, so we decided that we would wear a blue (all had to be blue) turtleneck under our coveralls." Says June. "We had to wait until everyone had one before we could wear them, and if you were slow in your purchase of one you would have the rest of the troop to deal with!"
Another of June's memories deals with walking to and from various places at Depot. Whenever you were in your fatigues going to classes in different buildings the troop marched together, a practice still in effect to this day. If you are seen by any of the instructors just walking along haphazardly, you would be reported and assigned extra duties. Once the drill instructor felt everyone's marching capabilities were good enough, the troop graduated to wearing the blue striped uniformed pants and uniform shirts, but the marching on base continued until end of training.
At RCMP Depot, June's dorm room was in C Block, and at that time it was large dorm room building. She shared a room with another woman, as was the practice at the time. June fondly recalls the strict routine that was a part of each training day. Like having to ironing her bed – "Of course we had daily inspections and everything had to be just so, and with our beds the sheets had to be folded down just so far, and everything had to be tightly tucked in and looking sharp," remembers June. "One of the best ways to make things look great was to iron our beds after they were made…so that's what we did!" While at classes if an instructor came to inspect your room and found anything out of order you would most likely come back to find your bureau drawers emptied onto the floor or your closet emptied onto the floor, leaving you to tidy things up and perhaps even be assigned some extra duties!
And a misstep in the drill hall could see cadets having to polish an aluminum garbage can – from the inside! "Yes, I remember times where if someone messed up, we were made to stand inside an empty garbage can, in the drill hall, and had to polish the outside of it," June says. "It was a symbolic thing really, and we all knew it; there was absolutely nothing hurtful about it, it was a great way to keep us on our toes."
There was much of Troop 13's training that was combined with men who were also cadets at that time. Police Defensive Tactics, or ground fighting, was one such element that was combined. "We would start out back-to-back, and do everything we could to keep them away…and we were good at it," says June. She remembers her time at Depot as being one filled with good experiences, and positive memories. June will be the first to tell you, as with anything there were experiences that were not so positive and ones you would like to forget, especially at the time they occurred, however the positive outweighed the negative "In those early days, whenever a woman member transferred to a different detachment, we had to again prove ourselves capable of doing the work and handling aggressive situations, but the men transferring in would be readily accepted," June says.
June's first posting was to Ottawa and A Division where she was tasked with Embassy Patrol and work with the Prime Minister's cottage at Harrington Lake, Quebec. From there she worked at detachments in B Division - Newfoundland & Labrador, L Division - Prince Edward Island and H Division - Nova Scotia. In 1998, June was promoted to the rank of Corporal. Along the way, family life came along and June recalls how she and her husband figured things out as they went. "In those days, you got 15 weeks unemployment pay and had to leave work one month before your due date," says June. "Things are certainly different now," she says smiling with a wry grin. Today, June's son is also a member of the RCMP, following proudly in his Mom's footsteps.
"I had a great career, sure it must be different now, but I had a great career," June says. And true to her hopes when she joined, "I found that not only was I able to help people, but most people were super helpful to me." To this day, the friends she made with the public during each posting remain friends, and they are in regular contact.
June Ramsay, and the members of Troop 13, demonstrated what is possible for women in the RCMP and helped to inspire future generations of women to join. In 2024 the RCMP mark the 50th Anniversary of Women Serving in the Force, and we are proud to recognize women like June Ramsay with all they accomplished, and all they've done to shape the RCMP of today.