Alberta
Province providing Indigenous communities and municipalities support to study future of policing
Committing to community policing
Alberta’s government will ensure Indigenous communities and municipalities have the support they need to study what kind of police service best meets their local needs.
Every Albertan should feel safe and secure in their communities and every community should be able to choose a policing model that meets their needs. Alberta’s government is investing in increased community safety by providing $6 million over two years for Indigenous and Municipal Police Transition Study Grants. These grants would provide Indigenous communities and municipalities with up to $30,000 each toward an independent study to determine if a local, self-administered police service or a regional policing model would be a better fit for their citizens.
“No one knows a community’s needs better than the people who live there. This funding will empower municipalities to explore different policing models that will improve public safety and address their community’s unique needs.”
The Indigenous and Municipal Police Transition Study Grants were created to assist communities interested in exploring different policing models. The grants will help communities cover the cost of conducting necessary research into local public safety needs, gaps, capital requirements and transition considerations.
To date, Public Safety and Emergency Services has received grant applications from 13 communities that are interested in a different policing model to meet their needs. The department is reviewing these applications and working with these and other communities that have expressed interest in applying.
“This funding provides municipalities with an excellent opportunity to study how best to meet their communities’ local and regional policing needs.”
Alberta’s government supports a community’s choice to determine what is best for its citizens, and assisting with the study and development of alternate policing models will help address the government’s public safety concerns. Every community has distinct needs, and each is in the best position to determine which policing model is best for them.
Budget 2023 secures Alberta’s future by transforming the health-care system to meet people’s needs, supporting Albertans with the high cost of living, keeping our communities safe and driving the economy with more jobs, quality education and continued diversification.
Quick facts
- Under Alberta’s Police Act, towns and cities with populations greater than 5,000 are responsible for their own policing.
- The Police Act gives municipalities the option of having their own police service, forming a regional policing arrangement or contracting for provincial policing services (i.e., the RCMP under Alberta’s provincial police service agreement).
- Under an agreement reached in September 2022, the Siksika Nation will get its own self-administered police service. Siksika developed a business case in 2021 with assistance from a $30,000 provincial government grant.
- Grande Prairie city council voted in March to create a municipal police service that will take over local policing from the RCMP.
- Over the next two years, Alberta will provide Grande Prairie with a $9.7-million grant to establish a local police service.
Alberta
Fortis et Liber: Alberta’s Future in the Canadian Federation
From the C2C Journal
By Barry Cooper, professor of political science, University of Calgary
Canada’s western lands, wrote one prominent academic, became provinces “in the Roman sense” – acquired possessions that, once vanquished, were there to be exploited. Laurentian Canada regarded the hinterlands as existing primarily to serve the interests of the heartland. And the current holders of office in Ottawa often behave as if the Constitution’s federal-provincial distribution of powers is at best advisory, if it needs to be acknowledged at all. Reviewing this history, Barry Cooper places Alberta’s widely criticized Sovereignty Act in the context of the Prairie provinces’ long struggle for due constitutional recognition and the political equality of their citizens. Canada is a federation, notes Cooper. Provinces do have rights. Constitutions do mean something. And when they are no longer working, they can be changed.
Alberta
30 million contraband cigarettes valued at $25 million dollars seized in Alberta
New release from Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC)
Record setting contraband tobacco seizures result from AGLC investigations
Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) recently concluded several investigations which netted two of the largest contraband tobacco seizures in Alberta history. The combined total of the contraband tobacco seized was 154,800 cartons of contraband cigarettes (30.7 million individual cigarettes). These seizures are a result of the work conducted by AGLC’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit with the assistance of provincial law enforcement agencies.
- In a January 2024 investigation, approximately 43,500 cartons (8.7 million individual cigarettes) were seized. This equates to $7 million in retail value with a provincial tax avoidance of $2.4 million. This included the seizure of 15,000 grams of contraband shisha.
- In April of 2024, 60 wrapped pallets were seized from a warehouse setting netting a total of 111,300 cartons of contraband cigarettes (22 million individual cigarettes) which equates to over $18 million in retail value with a provincial tax avoidance of $6.6 million.
- Criminal Charges are pending in both cases.
“These are significant contraband tobacco investigations involving individuals that are part of organized networks whose proceeds defraud Albertans millions of dollars in tax revenue. AGLC will continue to work with our partners to investigate and disrupt the individuals and organizations involved in these illegal activities as part our commitment to a strong contraband tobacco enforcement program in Alberta.”
- Gary Peck, Vice President, Regulatory Services, AGLC
“Contraband tobacco hurts law abiding businesses that follow the rules, and it costs Albertans millions each year from lost tax revenue. Our government is committed to keeping illegal tobacco off the streets and ensuring that the sale of tobacco products comply with the law.”
- Dale Nally, Minister of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction
Over the last nine months, AGLC’s Tobacco Enforcement unit has seized an estimated 35 million contraband cigarettes and 115,000 grams of contraband shisha from across the province. The total potential lost tax revenue is estimated to be more than $10.1 million.
Contraband tobacco:
- is any tobacco product that does not comply with federal and provincial laws related to importation, marking, manufacturing, stamping and payment of duties and taxes;
- comes from four main sources: illegal manufacturers, counterfeits, tax-exempt diversions and resale of stolen legal tobacco; and
- can be recognized by the absence of a red (Alberta) or peach/light tan (Canada) stamp bearing the “DUTY PAID CANADA DROIT ACQUITTÉ” on packages of cigarettes and cigars or pouches of tobacco.
In addition to lost revenues that may otherwise benefit Albertans, illegally manufactured products also pose public health and safety risks as they lack regulatory controls and inspections oversight.
Albertans who suspect illegal tobacco production, packaging and/or trafficking are encouraged to contact AGLC’s Tobacco Enforcement Unit at 1-800-577-2522 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
Under a Memorandum of Understanding with Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, AGLC enforces the Tobacco Tax Act and conducts criminal investigations related to the possession, distribution and trafficking of contraband tobacco products. In 2022-23, provincial revenue from tobacco taxes was approximately $522 million.
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