'It's very common': 2 RCMP cadets faint during Trudeau's announcement

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was speaking at the RCMPDepot in Regina on Friday when two RCMP cadets standing at attention fainted and had to be guided off risers.

Tammy Patterson, Sgt. Major, offered no official update on the cadetsfollowing the announcement but said, "I think they are doing fine."

She said the RCMP is taking all the precautions to make sure they are healthy.

Two RCMP cadets faint behind Trudeau and the new Commissioner Brenda Lucki

7 years ago

Duration 2:20

Two RCMP cadets faint behind Trudeau and the new Commissioner Brenda Lucki

They were trying their best, I imagine, to look great as a backdrop- Tammy Patterson

Before they fainted, the cadetshad been standing dutifully in their uniforms for just under an hour.

"It's very common for members to faint on parade," Patterson explained to reporters. "You're standing still, the blood is not circulating, it's not getting up to your brain and your brain is telling you to faint."

Patterson said cadets are told to move their feet and squeeze their calves while on parade to get their circulation going.

The cadets behind the podium were seniors who will be going out to work in the field soon, Patterson said. She speculated that they likely refrained from moving at all while standing behind Trudeau and MP Ralph Goodale to avoid fidgeting.

"They were trying their best, I imagine, to look great as a backdrop," she said. "It's a very exciting moment for them to don their red serge, which is a huge thing, and to be that backdrop, it was a really great moment for them and probably also really stressful."

Trudeau came to the city toname Brenda Lucki, the commanding officer of RCMP's Depot division in Regina, as the RCMP's first permanent female commissioner.

The Prime Minister told the crowd he would be checking in on the cadetswho fainted following his speech.