'On the inside': Why some Indigenous officers stick with the RCMP despite struggles

Dean Gladue says he never experienced racism until joining the RCMP. The 26-year veteran began his career with the force in 1989 as special constable, a role assigned to police First Nations reserves. It was a rank below his non-Indigenous colleagues, who were better paid. It felt like he was "a second-class citizen," he said in a recent interview. After the program shuttered, Gladue transitioned into a job as a regular constable. The 25-year-old Metis man would then overhear offhand comments ar