The federal government is giving $4 million to help address gun crime and gang violence in the Yukon.
The territory’s MP, Brendan Hanley, announced the funding at a news conference on Friday in Whitehorse.
“Addressing the issue of crime requires action on two key fronts: prevention and enforcement. This funding will support both efforts, empowering the Yukon to direct resources where they will have the greatest impact,” Hanley said, in a statement.
The funding, stretched over four years, follows an earlier federal investment of $2.2 million for Yukon from 2018 to 2023. The money comes from the Gun and Gang Violence Fund, a $390-million pot of money to be distributed to provinces and territories over the next four years.
The funding is meant to “support efforts by community organizations and law enforcement to combat gun violence and keep our communities safe,” according to a news release.
Yukon Justice Minister Tracy-Anne McPhee said at Friday’s news conference that the earlier funding has been used for “a number of things related to community safety.”
“Do we have gang activity here in the Yukon? Absolutely, yes. Do we have gang activity that involves the use and movement and transfer of firearms in this territory? Absolutely, yes. Do we need this fund to help combat that activity? Absolutely,” McPhee said.
Speaking to CBC News in 2023, RCMP Supt. Lindsay Ellis said there were at least five known organized crime networks working the territory. Police were seeing gang-related crime “everywhere,” she said.
Some of the new money will go toward the territory’s Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods (SCAN) unit, which is a territorial law enforcement agency that works to shut down properties that are used for illegal activities. McPhee said the funding will allow the SCAN unit to step up its staffing, investigations, and analysis of criminal activity in the territory.
She said the funding will also support the downtown safety action plan in Whitehorse, and the territory’s substance use health emergency strategy.
