Garrett Gauthier hopes to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather
MANITOULIN—Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) cadet Garrett Gauthier, from Manitowaning, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, Graham Lloyd and other family members in becoming a full-time member of the OPP.
“I started on Manitoulin Island on June 6 after having taken a couple of weeks training in Thunder Bay,” said Mr. Gauthier, the son of Paula Fields and Chris Gauthier. “The OPP cadet program prepares future OPP officers with front-line experience.”
“The OPP has not had the cadet program since 2009,” said Mr. Gauthier. “It helps provide an opportunity for cadets like me to see if we are interested in becoming an OPP constable.”
“Yes, I’m hoping to eventually become a constable,” Mr. Gauthier told The Expositor. “After my cadet program, I still have to reapply to the OPP for consideration as an officer.”
“The cadet program is a year-long program and provides a good steppingstone to becoming an OPP officer,” said Mr. Gauthier. He has been spending most of his training time with provincial constable Tess Kasch as well as other officers. “Everything has been going really good thus far.”
“My grandfather Graham Lloyd was a sergeant at the OPP detachment in Mindemoya and Gore Bay and detachment commander in Manitowaning and Gore Bay for a number of years,” Mr. Gauthier explained. “He was always an inspiration for me to get into policing. And growing up (in Manitowaning), a lot of my friends’ fathers were police officers, so this was an influence as well.”
Mr. Gauthier explained that as well as his grandfather, “my one great grandfather Howard Dinsmore was a town police officer in Gore Bay and then Mindemoya. My other great grandfather was Constable Ab Stewart, and he was stationed out of Little Current.”
