In B.C. First, Aboriginal Woman Named Province's Top Mountie

SURREY, B.C. — The RCMP has a new commander in British Columbia.

 

Deputy commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr is the new commanding officer of E Division, the largest in the country.

 

Butterworth-Carr is a member of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in Han Nation in Yukon and joined the force as a native special constable in 1987.

 

She has held many key positions, including assistant district commander in the north district of B.C. and took command of the Prince George detachment in 2009.

 

Butterworth-Carr was the first female director general of national aboriginal policing and crime prevention services in Ottawa, and became the first aboriginal woman to lead an RCMP division when she took command in Saskatchewan between 2013 and 2016.

 

A joint process involving the RCMP and provincial officials selected Butterworth-Carr to replace deputy commissioner Craig Callens, who retires after 32 years on the force, including five years as commanding officer in B.C.