FR - Nouvelles
Tu peux maintenant te stationner à Montréal gratuitement grâce à une application
Notre vie simplifiée...
Discover Narcity
Get the latest and greatest stories every day in your inbox.
Ministers tout Indigenous policing investment
The funding will expand safety officers to all 63 First Nations in Manitoba by 2028.
While no new money was announced for Indigenous policing on Friday, federal and provincial public safety ministers held a press conference in Brandon to announce $163.5 million in past funding commitments.
Speaking at the Waywayseecappo Conference Centre, federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the combined funding from the two governments is aiding the expansion and effectiveness of Indigenous-led policing efforts.
“I’m happy to announce that our governments today, Canada and Manitoba, are jointly supporting two major investments in First Nations policing and community safety here in the province under the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program,” Anandasangaree said. “This money will strengthen its capacity to deliver First Nations-led, culturally informed policing to the 12 First Nations communities that it currently serves.”
The funding includes $121 million for the Manitoba First Nations Police Service from 2023-27 and $42.5 million to expand the Manitoba First Nation Safety Officer Program from 2025-28.
Anandasangaree said the funding will help expand the safety officer program to all 63 First Nations in Manitoba by 2028.
“First Nations safety officers play a key role in the provincial public safety strategy, complementing and at times augmenting the role of the RCMP,” Anandasangaree said. “We will also provide improved training, equipment, communication tools and more equitable resources that are distributed across communities in Manitoba.”
MFNPS Chief Jason Colon, who attended the press conference, said the funding has allowed the service to dedicate officers for in-house training and purchase equipment such as body cameras, vehicle cameras and surveillance cameras at detachments.
The funding has also enabled the MFNPS to expand into two new communities in recent years — Fisher River Cree Nation and Gambler First Nation.
The police service is currently trying to secure funding for a Crime Reduction and Enforcement Unit, which targets crimes related to gangs, drugs and firearms, he said.
“We’re hoping in the next few years to have this position, this unit funded as full-time.”
Colon said the expansion of policing capacity in rural First Nations during the past few years has benefited people outside those communities as well, enhancing overall law-enforcement presence across the province.
He also noted the MFNPS works closely with the Winnipeg Police Service and the Brandon Police Service.
“Crime doesn’t really look at borders,” he said. “People from outside our communities are transporting substances, and by us having the resources to deal with those things, it supports the surrounding communities as well.”
Manitoba Justice Minister Matt Wiebe echoed those comments.
“There’s definitely a community focus to the work that’s happening with the FNSOs, with First Nations police,” he said at the press conference. “But I want to be clear: the work that they do is not simply focused on their own communities.”
He pointed to a case where First Nation safety officers in Bunibonibee Cree Nation identified drugs that were being brought into the community, leading to a deeper investigation by RCMP, which carried out arrests across the province.
“It’s an example of how public safety in one community impacts other communities,” Wiebe said.
“I think that there’s an element here where First Nations police are doing work that is complementing and adding to the work that’s happening with the RCMP and at the community level with the FNSO.”
Copyright 2026, Brandon Sun. All rights reserved.
Connor McDowell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun.
Keep reading
Show less
U.S. won’t drop digital issues in trade talks: former negotiator
U.S. won’t drop digital issues: former negotiator
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
Canada’s former chief trade negotiator says that while digital issues will continue to be a source of trade tensions with the U.S., Canada can gain strength if it teams up with other allies that have similar interests.
Steve Verheul says the United States won’t simply drop issues like the Online News Act and digital sovereignty that it has identified as trade irritants.
He says the cultural exemption Canada has under the current trade agreement can only go so far because it allows the Americans to automatically retaliate if it is used.
Verheul says the United States views policies targeting big tech companies as discriminatory, and it’s difficult to design non-discriminatory policies because of how many of the largest digital companies are American.
He says Canada needs to work more closely with allies like the European Union to develop a more united position on digital issues.
Canada cut off the latest round of trade negotiations with the United States in August, citing American demands related to rules on Canadian content on streaming platforms.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
By Anja Karadeglija | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Keep reading
Show less
Canadians step up to give blood after fire at Alberta military base kills four
Canadians step up to give blood after base fire
Canadian Blood Services says it has been "deeply moved" by a surge in public support following a deadly fire at a military base in Wainwright, Alta.
Defence officials have said 84 members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were in a training area of CFB Wainwright, southeast of Edmonton, when a fire struck Saturday.
Strong and sudden winds sent flames from a nearby grass fire across the Prairie landscape at lightning speed, killing four and sending 39 to hospital, 19 in critical condition.
Among the dead are Sgt. Morgan Wong of Edmonton, Pte. Shaun Farrell of Prince Albert, Sask., Pte. Aidan Goulding of North Vancouver, and Pte. Hayden Lykkemark of Langley, B.C.
Canadian Blood Services said in a statement Sunday that those who want to help by donating blood are encouraged to do so in the coming days and weeks.
Canadian Blood Services says the response from Canadians is a testament to their generosity and the importance of maintaining a well-prepared blood system.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Keep reading
Show less