‘Guns and Gangs’: Alberta First Nation gets federal money for gang suppression
TSUUT’INA FIRST NATION, ALBERTA – A First Nation in southern Alberta will receive funding to help deal with a surge in crime and develop anti-gang programs.
Federal Public Safety Secretary Marco Mendicino joined Chief Roy Whitney of the Tsuut’ina Nation on Tuesday to announce more than $1 million in funding from the Building Safer Communities Fund.
In the sprawling reservation on the outskirts of Calgary, construction has exploded, including shopping malls and restaurants, and 35,000 vehicles on the roads every day.
“One of those challenges is living next to a population of 1.4 million people. With such a large population comes crime,” Whitney said.
“Unfortunately, with that comes crime to our small community, including guns and gangs. With this funding, the Tsuut’ina police can take new initiatives such as gun control and gang prevention.”
Mendicino said it’s not just a problem at Tsuut’ina — it’s happening in communities across the country. He said the program directly targets the root causes of gun crime by encouraging local community initiatives.
“It has helped young people most at risk of being exposed to crime and making the wrong choices to make the right choices instead,” he said.
“The nation will distribute this money to community-led projects that address the root causes of crime, initiatives that help young people involved in or at risk of joining gangs.”
Whitney said the police are underfunded despite additional support from the band itself. But it should only focus on answering calls and not work to prevent young people from going down the wrong path, he said.
Police Chief Keith Blake said the severity of crime has not increased, but the volume has.
“We’re seeing about three times as many calls for service in the last three months as we did in the previous three months.”
He said there needs to be a full analysis of the root problems and what kind of approach is needed.
“The three-year funding will help us understand the analytics of what we’re seeing,” Blake said.
“It will help us understand what prevention options are out there, what programming can take place and how to deter people who may be going down that path of crime.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 11, 2023.
