THUNDER BAY - When the chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service received one of the highest recognitions for police officers in Canada, it was a surreal experience. But he said being honoured by the people he serves is even more meaningful.
Terry Armstrong, chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, was awarded the Order of Merit of the Police Forces last September. He received the award from Governor General, David Johnston, in a ceremony in Ottawa.
“There are a lot of police in this country and to be one of those honoured with the Medal of Merit, it was quite an honour,” Armstrong said.
On Thursday, Armstrong was honoured again during the NAN Winter Chief’s Assembly in Thunder Bay, which for Armstrong, meant even more.
“These are the people I serve and I love and go out and try to do the protection for each day,” he said before the ceremony on Thursday. “So for me, this is very heartfelt.”
“We are so proud to have you as our police chief,” said NAN Grand Chief, Alvin Fiddler. “Thank you for your years of service.”
Armstrong has served as the NAN Police chief since 2013. He has worked as a police officer since 1984 and before that he served in the Canadian Armed Forces, participating in NATO missions in Norway and Cyrpus, where he served as detachment commander as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission.
During his long career, Armstrong has been award the Peacekeeping Service Medal, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the UN Peacekeeping Medal, and the Exemplary Police Service Medal.
With all those honours proudly displayed on his uniform, Armstrong said his most recent award ranks up there with all the others.
But he said the Order of Merit was not awarded to him alone; it goes out to all the people he works with who strive to make NAN communities a safer place to live.
“It’s not a single person sport, so to speak,” he said. “It’s a group effort. I share this with everyone I work with and all my colleagues along the way who taught me and sometimes by bad example, sometimes by good example.”
Armstrong has faced not shortage of challenges as chief of the NAN Police Service. He said the force is chronically underfunded, which hinders his officer’s ability to properly police the many communities they serve.
“Moving forward with all the issues out there, increased drug use, fentanyl, things that are coming up today and once that’s gone, it’s something else,” he said. “We just need to have an equal playing field in policing and we are looking forward to that day when that happens. That is what we will keep pushing for, that’s the hill we keep climbing.”
The NAN police service currently has 134 uniform officers and recently saw 15 more added to the service. Armstrong said he would like to see an additional 52 added to the force, not including specialty units.
Armstrong said proper funding, and legislative frameworks to ensure proper funding, would allow the police service to properly serve the nearly 50 NAN communities in Northern Ontario.
“We hope to achieve safer communities and continue to have safe communities,” Armstrong said. “NAN is a great nation with a great people who back us, even in our toughest times. They are there behind us and helping us and I would like to see a better day for them.”
