MANITOULIN—Provincial Constable Shannon McGale hails from Burlington originally, but the new member of the Manitoulin-Espanola OPP Detachment and mother of two has always felt the draw of the wild, so much so that she now holds two university degrees that include an honours degree in Outdoor Recreation.
In her police training she took general law and breath technologist.
Constable McGale worked as a co-director of a camp for developmentally challenged children before joining the force, in fact, she met her partner while working there. Both she and her husband, Conservation Office Iain McGale enjoy the outdoors. “I like getting outdoors, being on the water, hunting, fishing, camping, archery and the outdoor life generally,” she said.
In August 2014 Constable McGale was assigned to the Red Lake detachment and her husband joined the MNRF, eventually working his way from Park Warden at Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, to an operations technician position with Ontario Parks and then in Red Lake as a resource manager technician, eventually becoming a conservation officer.
When a position came open on the Island, both Constable McGale and her husband were able to transfer to Manitoulin Island. “It worked out really well for us,” she said.
Asked what she likes to do in her spare time, Constable McGale laughs. “Right now it’s mostly watching my kids.”
But the couple has found time to join a local slo-pitch league and Constable McGale said that she was looking forward to this fall when she would try her hand at bow hunting for the first time. “I have never done it before, I am really looking forward to it.”
