News
New funding for Tsuut’ina Nation to support Indigenous-led anti-gang programs

July 11, 2023, Tsuut’ina Nation, Alta. – Advancing Indigenous-led approaches to public safety is central to both maintaining public safety in First Nations communities and advancing reconciliation. The Government of Canada is taking action with a comprehensive plan that gets guns off the streets and puts more resources into communities, so they have launched the $250 million Building Safer Communities Fund (BSCF). First announced in March 2022, the BSCF supports local initiatives that prevent gun and gang violence and help young people make good choices.

The Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, announced that the Tsuut’ina Nation will receive up to $1.13 million from the BSCF to prevent crime. This funding will help the Tsuut’ina Nation address the underlying conditions that give rise to criminal activity. It will support community-led projects to prevent violence among young people who are involved in gangs, or at risk of joining them – helping them set themselves up for success in life.

The Tsuut’ina Nation is one of several First Nations communities that are benefitting from funding from the BSCF. The Government of Canada is working with communities across the country to roll out funding as quickly as possible. This funding is one element of broader efforts to improve public safety in Indigenous communities, including working with First Nations partners to co-develop federal legislation recognizing First Nations police services as an essential service, and increasing funding and flexibility for police services under the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program.