One of the many facets of a career in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the chance of being posted anywhere across the country.
When Const. Blaine Caines first arrived as a new member at the 100 Mile House RCMP Detachment in Nov. 25, 2013, he had been living in Saskatoon for five years.
However, he was born and raised in a small fishing village in Newfoundland.
Caines says unlike the seemingly-endless Prairie grasslands surrounding Saskatoon, 100 Mile House is more similar to the northern east coast peninsula that nurtured his rural roots – except for no ocean.
His stint as a private investigator was a stepping-stone to getting into police work, which has been his goal since age 18, he explains.
However, he was initially unable to secure a spot in the RCMP Depot training, so he attended college in Newfoundland and obtained a degree in law enforcement.
When he still could not find an opening into the RCMP field, he moved to Saskatoon and worked at a private investigation firm to gain experience in conducting investigations.
"I did some undercover surveillance, vehicle seizures and serving court documents and things."
A decade after setting his sights on becoming a police officer, Caines says he was thrilled to be accepted into Regina's RCMP Depot academy.
"It is excellent; I am loving it. It is everything I wanted it to be, except for a lot of paperwork.... I enjoy helping people, so that was kind of the big push for becoming a police officer. "
Shortly after arriving in 100 Mile, he was temporarily posted to Alexis Creek where RCMP officers were in short supply – and technology and equipment almost non-existent.
With no computers, a lack of cellphone service and a huge territory to cover, Caines says he got his feet wet working for three months in a "very difficult policing" environment.
Caines adds the local detachment members "all get along very well" and his love for fishing and hunting fits well with the Cariboo landscape, lakes and lifestyle.
His formative years were spent on fishing boats with his father and uncle who made their living out on the ocean, he explains.
"Most of my days off from school, all my weekends, and my summer holidays I spent on the boat with my father fishing ... even back when I was seven or eight years old."
Among his many great experiences out on the Atlantic Ocean, Caines notes a "cool one" was landing a 300-pound live halibut caught on a trawl line behind his uncle's 50-foot longliner.
He fished for lobster and codfish with his father, and while on trips with his uncle (including a full year as a young adult) he caught "everything" else from crab and shrimp to turbot and mackerel.
Now, Const. Caines is helping to catch criminals instead, doing the good work he loves and ensuring the community is safer.