London is set to receive several million dollars in government funding in an effort to reduce gun and gang-related violence in the city.
On Monday, Federal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino was joined by Mayor Josh Morgan, Liberal MPs Peter Fragiskatos and Arielle Kayabaga, and police chief Steve Williams at the London Public Library's Central Branch to announce a $3.09 million investment from the Building Safer Communities Fund (BSCF). The fund was launched in early 2022 to support community-led initiatives that aim to prevent gun crime and help young people make good choices.
"This is a welcomed investment in support of proactive crime reduction and public safety," said Morgan. "Like many cities across Canada, London has experienced a steady rise in violent crime in recent years, and we are grateful to the Federal Government for demonstrating an ongoing commitment in support of safer communities. These funds will help us steer young people away from a life of crime and violence, and instead towards more productive and prosperous futures."
The city will use the funding to develop a multi-year strategy to identify and address the underlying factors that lead to youth gun and gang violence through data analysis, needs assessments, and consultations with community partners. The government determines how much monetary support each community will receive based on crime severity in the municipality (homicide by firearm, incidents of gun offences, organized/street crime) and population density.
"Investments in grassroots efforts in London are essential to addressing the social conditions that lead youth and young adults to get involved in a life of crime. Put simply, we must stop gun and gang violence before it starts," said Minister Mendicino.
Since the start of January, London police have reported on three incidents involving firearms, including a violent armed robbery of an east London gold store. One of the investigations turned up a pair of replica firearms and the other incident occurred as part of an alleged armed robbery at a downtown apartment building.
In the last several years, the federal government has introduced a number of resources to prevent gun smuggling at Canadian borders. Since 2020, more than 1,500 models and variants of assault-style firearms have been banned. A buyback program is also said to be in the works. Most recently, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-21, a national freeze on the sale, purchase or transfer of handguns by individuals within Canada.
The BSCF builds follows the 2018 federal Initiative To Take Action Against Gun and Gang Violence, a $358.8 million investment over five years that brings together federal, provincial and territorial supports to tackle the increase in gun-related violence and gang activity in Canada.