CORNWALL, Ontario – After decades of dismantling smuggling rings, the head of the Cornwall Regional Task Force (CRTF) is calling it a career.
Montreal native Tim Kimpan, 62, was first assigned with the CRTF in 1992, where he moved up the ranks until 2005, before he was transferred to Ottawa for three years. In 2008, Kimpan returned to the CRTF as the Officer in Charge.
He will be starting his retirement on Friday, March 13, which he says is a lucky day for him.
“I consider my time with the RCMP an adventure,” said Kimpan.
He described the regional task force as a “very successful joint forces partnership” between the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Akwesasne Mohawk Police, and the Ontario Ministry of Finance.
“I still enjoy my job immensely and I’m not leaving because of frustration or anything else,” said Kimpan. “It’s because I’m happy, healthy, and the timing is right.”
His replacement has yet to be announced.
Over the years, Kimpan witnessed the smuggling trade synonymous with Cornwall’s international bridge leading to New York and neighbouring Akwesasne expand from drugs and tobacco to human trafficking.
“Back in the 90s we had one pursuit per shift and I was rammed (with other vehicles) nearly a dozen times,” he said. “But the last couple years we’ve had numerous human smuggling investigations.”
Kimpan and his wife, who is also an RCMP officer, live in Cornwall with their six-year-old son.
His retirement plans are centered around his family and learning to speak Spanish.
“It’s more of a permanent vacation,” he laughed.
