Constable (Cst) Nick Hubenig is the newest member to join the Smithers RCMP Detachment.
Born and raised in Edmonton, Alta., Hubenig always wanted to be a police officer to help people.
He also considers himself to be an avid outdoorsman and adventurer and found a way to combine his desire to serve people and the outdoors by joining the BC Conservation Officer Service (COS) as an auxiliary dealing with hunting, fishing and invasive species regulations and violations.
“I worked for three years as an auxiliary out of Golden and Fernie BC, got a real taste for the enforcement side of things and got to work not only with full-time COS staff but multiple different agencies in my time there, Parks, DFO, CVSE, CBSA and of course, excellent RCMP members out of Golden, Cranbrook and Fernie areas,” Hubenig said.
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He decided to take the leap and apply to the RCMP in 2019 and just over a year later found his way into Depot training in Regina, Sask. in March of 2020.
“I spent a difficult, but fun, time at Depot for two weeks before the Depot training facility in Regina, Sask., was shut down due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
It was a hard setback, but the RCMP stuck with us and was still able to pay us our cadet wage in the off-time to help motivate us to stick with it and come back when Depot reopened,” Hubenig said.
Six months later, he and his class made it back to Depot. Going through a lot of hard work to persevere through the pandemic, with the ever-changing policies and restrictions, Hubenig graduated just over a year later.
“I was posted to Smithers, B.C., out of Depot, and I heard from members I had talked to that it is the post members never want to leave, and I believe it,” he said.
“I have been here since April 1, and during the short time I have spent here getting to know my community and my fellow RCMP members, I can already tell that I am extremely lucky and Smithers is a beautiful town.”
“I am an avid outdoors adventurer and I am a huge bird nerd who is always out in the bush with my binoculars.
I love hiking, paddling, snowshoeing and snowboarding and Smithers has everything here I could ask for and more.”
“My journey has just begun, but I am excited to learn everything I can, serve my community to the best of my ability, and hit the ground running.”