'Guns and gangs': Alberta First Nation gets federal cash for gang suppression

A southern Alberta First Nation is to receive funding to help deal with a sharp increase in crime and develop anti-gang programming.

A southern Alberta First Nation is to receive funding to help deal with a sharp increase in crime and develop anti-gang programming.

Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino joined Chief Roy Whitney from the Tsuut'ina Nation on Tuesday to announce more than $1 million in funding from the Building Safer Communities Fund.

The sprawling reserve on the edge of Calgary has seen an explosion in construction, including shopping centres and restaurants, as well as an additional 35,000 vehicles a day on its roads.

"One of those challenges is living beside a population of 1.4 million people. With a population that large, there comes crime," said Whitney.

"Unfortunately with that, crime comes to our small community, which includes 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 is taking direct aim at the root causes of gun crime by boosting local community initiatives.

"It's helped young people who are most at risk of being exposed to crime and making the wrong choices to instead make the right choices," he said.