Advancing innovative, Indigenous-led initiatives to keep people safe is central to both maintaining public safety in First Nations communities and advancing reconciliation. That is why the Government of Canada is working with Indigenous leaders to take action on guns and gangs. The most important element of this plan is preventing violence from happening in the first place, which is why the government launched the $250 million Building Safer Communities Fund (BSCF). First announced in March 2022, the BSCF supports local initiatives to prevent gun and gang violence and help young people make good choices.
Today, the Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety, and Chief Mark B. Hill, announced that the Six Nations of the Grand River will receive up to $1.9 million under the Building Safer Communities Fund (BSCF.) This funding will support initiatives that tackle the root causes of gun crime, supporting community-led projects to combat violence among young people who are involved in gangs, or at risk of joining them.
Six Nations of the Grand River is the first of many Indigenous communities who will benefit from funding under the BSCF. The Government of Canada is currently working with communities across the country to put contribution agreements in place 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 legislation recognizing First Nations policing as an essential service, and increasing funding for police services under the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program.
No one program or initiative can tackle the challenge of gun and gang violence on its own. That is why the BSCF is a key element of the Government's comprehensive plan to keep Canadians safe. This includes major investments at our borders to stop gun smuggling, a proposed national freeze on handguns, new proposed "red flag" laws to stop domestic violence, the banning of more than 1,500 models of assault-style firearms, and the development of a buyback program, to get guns off of our streets.
