Two Canadian Mounties fainted behind Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a ceremony to announce the new commissioner – the first woman to earn the position.
Trudeau named Brenda Lucki as Canada’s first permanent female commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
But during the 45-minute ceremony at the RCMP Academy in Regina, Sask on Friday, two Mounties fainted and had to be helped out of the hall.
A sergeant with the RCMP said after the ceremony that it was ‘very common for members to faint on parade’.
One Mountie with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) fell during the new commissioner’s speech on Friday. Brenda Lucki (pictured) is the first female commissioner for the RCMP
Cadets helped escort the fallen Mountie off the stage before Trudeau took the podium
Sergeant Major Tammy Patterson said: ‘It is very common for members to faint on parade, you are standing still, the blood is not circulating.
‘It is not getting up to your brain, and your brain is telling you to faint.
‘I guess, without a better way of putting it, it is just standing there for so long, and it is just very typical that that happened on parade, when you are standing for a long period of time.’
The first Mountie went down when Lucki first took the podium to accept her position as the new commissioner.
Lucki said: ‘I am so very grateful to the men and women who have guided me, mentored me and believed in me. and who have forged the path to this very special day.’
But during her sentence, a male Mountie began to sway back and forth directly behind Lucki before falling straight forward.
The speech was halted for almost a minute as the other Mounties around the fallen cadet helped get him up and away from the area.
Everyone seemed fine when Trudeau turned around to recognize the Mounties behind him
But then a second Mountie fainted and was caught by a colleague during Trudeau’s speech
Lucki resumed her speech after a brief pause to allow everyone to collect themselves after the fall.
The second Mountie went down when Trudeau took to microphone.
He started his speech before pausing to allow for audience members to clap while he took a sip of water.
Unbeknownst to him, a female Mountie was swaying towards her left before she also fainted into a colleague’s arms.
Trudeau took less of a pause than Lucki and continued with his speech while members of the RCMP helped the second cadet off the stage.
At the end of his speech, Trudeau said: ‘I am now going to check on some of our members who have been serving well.’
He then exited the stage with Lucki as they went to check on the fallen cadets.