All it took for Sarah Bass to want to become an RCMP officer was to meet Heidi Stevenson.
Stevenson, the Mountie who was killed during the shooting rampage that ended on Sunday, is being remembered as a police officer and a teammate who ran toward a problem instead of avoiding it.
Bass, now an RCMP constable in Newfoundland, was a third-year university student in Halifax and part of a group of four people who were about to rent a house when she met Stevenson.
“We showed up at the house to sign the lease and it was Heidi’s house, she was the landlord. She walked in wearing a uniform and it was this bright, bubbly person walking through the house. I remember being thrown off by it,” Bass said on Monday.
“She was my landlord and on top of that ... I realized that there was this awesome career according to Heidi, which was the RCMP. She basically sold it, it was like she showed up at the house to sell a product.”
Bass, who at the time was planning to do a PhD in psychology, said the RCMP was not her lifelong dream, and she had never been the little girl wanting to be a police officer.
Then she met the woman who was to become her mentor and her inspiration.
“She walked in and she was so happy,” said Bass.
“She got to know us all and she told me she had her masters. I was like, ‘Did you need your masters for the RCMP?’ and she said ‘I have my education and no one can ever take it from me,’ and I have used that line since.”
Stevenson had been a member of the RCMP Musical Ride and was a liason officer at Cole Harbour District High School, where she met her future husband. She started taking Bass along with her in her police car to give her an understanding of the job.
“I started going on ridealongs with her, and then I applied to the RCMP and she kept taking me,” Bass said.
“I remember asking her what speed is the speed that's too high that she was going to write a ticket. She said ‘I can't write a ticket for a speed that I've probably driven. I don't feel that's very honest of me.'”
Bass, who's been a member for six years, adopted the same practice. The two officers never worked in the same detachment, but Stevenson remained a mentor.
“If I had a court trial coming up, I'd reach out to her for some advice. I knew she was a breath technician ... and I reached out to her with questions. She was always just a Facebook message away. What makes me so sad is that I didn't realize how much just sitting in a vehicle with her (would mean), when I wasn't even a member. She was coaching me along.”
As a standout rugby player, first for Acadia University and then later for Nova Scotia, Stevenson played one of the most important positions on the pitch, and played the game with joy.“She usually played outhalf, number 10,” said Steve Lenihan, who coached Stevenson in provincial and senior rugby.
“My memory of Heidi is the contagious smile. She was always smiling and laughing, and really enjoyed life. She was a very happy person, very committed, very good athlete. In the world of rugby we talk about bravery and she was a brave player, she didn't hesitate to step up, when the team needed it she would always step up. Strong leader of the team, but caring and compassionate as a human.”
In Newfoundland, Bass remembered being helped through tough times during training in Regina by phone calls to Stevenson.
“She'd tell me ‘You can do it.' She's my story of why I'm here,” Bass said through tears.
“I wish I could have said that to her. “
