Peter Moon - Canadian Rangers

A hunting injury in a remote part of the Far North of Ontario resulted in a situation that was “interesting,” according the Canadian Army officer who commands the Canadian Rangers of Northern Ontario.

“Life in the North is very different from the South,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Richardson, commanding officer of the 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group. “The Rangers in rhe North do a good job when they are needed. And this was a situation where they were needed. There was nobody else who could help.”

Canadian Rangers are part-time army reservists.

A brother and sister escaped unharmed when their snowmobile was destroyed by fire while they were travelling from Wunnumin Lake to Nibinamik, two small Oji-Cree communities in the Far North of Ontario.

A successful rescue operation was started by the pair’s father, Sergeant Paul Oskineegish, who commands the Canadian Ranger patrol in Nibinamik.

A contingent of Canadian Rangers from 12 First Nations from Northern Ontario participated in a prominent Remembrance Day ceremony in Toronto on November 11.

Wearing their distinctive red jackets and combat pants, they attracted a lot of curious attention from many in the large crowd at the Ontario Veterans Memorial in front of the main entrance to Queen’s Park. The memorial, a 30-metre-long granite wall, has scenes on it of the Canadian military’s role in peace and war since 1867.

A group of Canadian Rangers from Northern Ontario has completed a challenging two weeks of search and rescue training with the Ontario Provincial Police.

‘It’s been a great course because the OPP have given us an opportunity to learn how to do a better job of searching for missing people,” said Master Corporal Jason Hunter of Peawanuck, a fly-in community close to the Hudson Bay coast, and a veteran of several search and rescue missions.

Members of the local Canadian Ranger and Junior Canadian Ranger patrols played a lead role at a funeral Monday in Bearskin Lake First Nation at the funeral for a 13-year-old Junior Ranger who committed suicide.

Citizens of the small Oji-Cree community, which has a population of 500 and is located 625 kilometers north of Thunder Bay, were shocked when they learned Karlena Kamenawatamin died by her own hand last Wednesday.