An original member of an historic group of RCMP officers donned the Red Serge once again to march from the Sheraton Hotel to Government House yesterday to mark an auspicious occasion in Canadian policing.

May of 1974 was when the very first graduating class of female cadets entered service with the RCMP.

Known as Troop 17, the officers are being recognized as trailblazers 50 years after the fact.

Gail Courtney, who was among them, says they really didn’t see what they were doing at the time as anything extraordinary.

Reflecting on what it’s like as a young person, who lives for the day, “our thing was we have to pass, we have to be successful and we can’t wait to get out on detachment. That was our goal.”