Ottawa provides over $4M for gang prevention

The federal government is giving over $4 million to the City of Edmonton for gang prevention, as Alberta’s only Liberal minister calls on the province to do more.

“To provide that support either through the school system or other community organizations to intervene at the right point,” said Amarjeet Sohi, Mayor of Edmonton.

The funding comes as tensions around gang and violent crime run high in the city — following the killing of an 11-year-old boy and his father in a targeted shooting in November, and charges laid against a man EPS say was responsible for selling the weapon used in killing two on-duty police officers earlier this year. 

At Friday’s announcement, there were no members of the Edmonton Police Service and no one from the Alberta government. The mayor says don’t read into that. The federal funding is meant to work alongside EPS enforcement work.

“This investment is about prevention and intervention. So this investment will supplement the work EPS is doing to build safer communities,” said Sohi.

Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault told CityNews he’s raised safety issues with Alberta’s Premier and is hoping the two levels of government can find common ground.

“Downtown revitalization and main-street revitalization in both Edmonton and Calgary, also making sure that everything from housing to the toxic drug crisis, to reducing gang violence — we’re all in this together — and she agreed,” said Boissonnault.