Mounties always gets his man

CTV.ca News Staff

Two RCMP officers will finally get their man this summer, when Const. Jason Tree and Const. David Connors walk down the aisle and exchange vows.

It will be the first same-sex marriage in the Mounties’ history.

“I’m a little nervous, as can be expected of any newlywed,” Connors told CTV News.

The two have been a couple since they were students at the University of New Brunswick eight years ago, but only recently decided to wed.

“I thought it was the right time to ask David, and that’s how it started,” Tree said.

The couple added that the RCMP was supportive of their decision to marry.

“I’ve been open about my sexuality ever since I began this job,” said Tree. “Coworkers, supervisors, management — everyone is supportive.”

However, there has been some friendly teasing, the couple said.

“We’ve heard the bad puns, like ‘Brokeback Mounties’ and all that. Actually, I think it’s quite funny,” said Connors.

An RCMP spokesman said the marriage shows the law enforcement agency is open to all of Canadian society.

Even in the small Nova Scotia fishing town where the officers live, residents couldn’t care less about the marriage.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. If they can’t find a woman, they go for the men,” one resident joked.

Another just said: “It doesn’t matter.”

Meanwhile, the two officers are surprised by the media attention, but hope to use the spotlight to prove the RCMP is open-minded when it comes to hiring recruits.

“I have several friends, and from seeing us in the RCMP they’ve gone to apply for the force. It’s great to open up this career option to people,” said Tree.

Connors and Tree plan to say their vows on June 30th, right before Canada Day.

Gay weddings were legalized across Canada last summer after court judgments repeatedly declared it unconstitutional to bar them.

Earlier this month, a controversial private member’s bill in Alberta, denounced by critics as being anti-gay, died after opposition members used stalling tactics to prevent its passage.

Bill 208 would have allowed marriage commissioners in Alberta to refuse to perform same-sex marriages.

With a report by CTV’s John Vennavally-Rao