Alberta unveils 10-year strategy to tackle gender-based violence
Alberta has announced a 10-year strategy to tackle gender-based violence with an emphasis on prevention and early intervention.
At a press conference on Thursday, Arts, Culture and Status of Women Minister Tanya Fir unveiled a strategy that aims to provide immediate, short-term, and long-term solutions, including the expansion of support and annual reporting on the rate of gender-based violence.
Fir said the strategy has more than 100 actions to address and prevent gender-based violence and called it the 'most comprehensive' strategy of its kind in Canada.
'Alberta's government is striving to create a future where gender based violence is rare and, when it does occur, it doesn't repeat,' Fir said.
In 2023, the province surveyed 1,192 Albertans and consulted with 500 individuals and organizations to develop the strategy.
The strategy aims to bridge gaps in policy and legislation, pointing to various government bodies having responsibilities for specific aspects of gender-based violence.
Under the 10-year strategy, the province outlined five key priorities — increasing awareness of gender-based violence, preventing gender-based violence, supporting Indigenous-led solutions, empowering women to be economically independent and supporting survivors and those impacted.
Each priority outlines immediate solutions to be implemented in 2025, short-term solutions to be implemented in 2026-2027, medium-term solutions to be implemented in 2028-2029, and long-term solutions to be implemented in 2030-2035.
The immediate solutions include supporting campaigns to raise awareness of gender-based violence, some targeted towards men and boys, supporting Indigenous-led programs to increase the safety of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, fund a 24-7 childcare pilot program supporting parents in skilled trades and other shift professions, and assisting survivors with housing expenses.
The province is also looking to increase access to sexual assault care, expand services to rural communities and develop a centralized platform for sexual assault support services. The strategy will provide additional training for health care providers and law enforcement in the coming years.
In 2026-2027, the province plans to support programming for disproportionately impacted groups, including those with disabilities, LGBTQ+, newcomers, Indigenous and racialized people.
Officials said the province will create a new deputy minister-level committee on gender-based violence to guide the implementation of the strategy. The committee's main objective will be to enhance data collection.
The province currently gets the majority of its data from Statistics Canada, along with some additional data from internal tracking done in ministries.
Annual reporting on rates of gender-based violence in Alberta will come as early as 2026, according to the report. Between 2030-2035, the province plans to collect data and research about the impacts of gender-based violence on Indigenous people.
According to the province, Alberta has the third-highest rate of gender-related homicides in Canada. In 2023, Statistics Canada reported 385 cases of intimate partner violence for every 100,000 people in Alberta, translating to approximately 18,800 cases in a single year.
There were 931 Aboriginal Alerts issued in Alberta in 2022 for missing Indigenous people, according to the report. Of those reports, 76 are still missing and 15 are deceased.
According to the province, it has invested $188 million annually in programs and services related to combating and responding to gender-based violence.
Alberta signed a four-year bilateral agreement with the federal government in 2023 to support and implement a 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence. The federal government will be providing $54 million over four years.
Alberta NDP status of women critic Julia Hayter said the announcement 'does nothing' for women fleeing violence today and said the province should have begun implementing solutions 18 months ago.
'I honestly believe that they should have started doing this work when they were elected,' Hayter said.
'We have been seeing a rise in intensity of violence to women right now that are fleeing gender violence. I've been told by many shelters that they're shutting down their beds because there's not enough funding.'
ctran@postmedia.com
X: @kccindytran
'No one deserves to be abused': Rise in children turned away from Alberta shelters highlights domestic violence crisis
Opinion: Domestic violence is predictable — and preventable
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
44 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
N.S. Mi'kmaq band drops case arguing federal rules don't apply to its lobster fishery
HALIFAX - A Mi'kmaq band has quietly discontinued its legal case alleging Ottawa was violating its right to fish for lobster, after hopes were raised of a historic deal. Last December, the lawyer for Sipekne'katik First Nation told Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice John Keith that discussions with Ottawa to settle the matter were of historic importance and 'moving to a conclusion.' Keith gave the parties until June 16 to finish the mediation, but said at that point the case would carry on before the courts. However, a letter to the courts sent June 6 by Sipekne'katik's lawyer Nathan Sutherland dropped the case without any further explanation, and without any kind of deal announced. Band members had argued their 'moderate livelihood' fishery outside of the regular season is permitted by a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision, but non-Indigenous commercial fishers have contended it threatens stocks and fails to recognize the courts also maintained Ottawa's right to regulate. The original lawsuit was launched by the band in 2021, seeking a declaration that current federal regulations infringe on its treaty right to fish. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
N.S. Mi'kmaq band drops case arguing federal rules don't apply to its lobster fishery
HALIFAX — A Mi'kmaq band has quietly discontinued its legal case alleging Ottawa was violating its right to fish for lobster, after hopes were raised of a historic deal. Last December, the lawyer for Sipekne'katik First Nation told Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice John Keith that discussions with Ottawa to settle the matter were of historic importance and "moving to a conclusion." Keith gave the parties until June 16 to finish the mediation, but said at that point the case would carry on before the courts. However, a letter to the courts sent June 6 by Sipekne'katik's lawyer Nathan Sutherland dropped the case without any further explanation, and without any kind of deal announced. Band members had argued their 'moderate livelihood' fishery outside of the regular season is permitted by a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision, but non-Indigenous commercial fishers have contended it threatens stocks and fails to recognize the courts also maintained Ottawa's right to regulate. The original lawsuit was launched by the band in 2021, seeking a declaration that current federal regulations infringe on its treaty right to fish. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 9, 2025. The Canadian Press
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Why some Canadians are alarmed by Mark Carney's pledge to act with urgency
Canadians elected Prime Minister Mark Carney's Liberal government based on its pledge to act with urgency and fix things — the country's economy, its security and its standing on the world stage. But with the unveiling of a bill to supercharge the economy and early efforts to improve the country's adversarial relations with India and China, there's growing concern that Carney's plans to boost Canada could involve unsavoury trade offs. Ask Indigenous leaders who were left out of 'nation-building' meetings or were given just a week to comment on legislation that will fast track infrastructure projects reasonably expected to pass through their treaty-protected territories. Ask Sikh-Canadian leaders who have seen their members targeted for death or violence, allegedly on orders from Indian government agents. Last Friday, they listened as Carney defended his G7 invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as one that 'makes sense' based on India's economic power, population and key role in international 'supply chains.' Ask foreign aid organizations, perhaps, if Canada commits to radically increasing defence spending along with NATO allies at a leaders' summit planned for later this month. Carney is not alone in his apparent willingness to step on toes if it means he can move further and faster in responding to the sense of emergency at hand. It's part of a global movement with governments invoking looming threats and emerging risks to push through all sorts of questionable — and sometimes contestable — priorities. The most blatant example is the one that has sparked the economic emergency in Canada. U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on imports have been pushed through not with legislation that can be studied, debated and voted upon, but through presidential executive orders invoking real or imagined national emergencies at the Canada-U. S. border. They are premised upon risks from America-bound migrants, fentanyl, steel and cars and, despite initial court rulings that tranches of the tariffs are illegal under U.S. law, they remain in effect. Likewise, the generalized panic that Russia's three-years-and-counting war against Ukraine has instilled in Europe. There is legitimate reason to worry about the longer-term intentions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a leader who has been unwilling to agree to a ceasefire despite sanctions, despite diplomatic isolation, despite the more recent appeals, threats and exhortations of the Trump administration. But preparations for a potentially wider conflict on the European continent now have German officials talking about rehabilitating long-abandoned bunkers, Poland vowing to build up 'the strongest army in the region,' and Swedish households receiving an alarming 32-page pamphlet from their government entitled: 'In case of crisis or war.' 'To all residents of Sweden: we live in uncertain times,' the booklet begins ominously. It goes on to cover everything from securing one's home to digital safety to instructions on how to stop bleeding to advice about handling pets and talking to children. This is the political and emotional backdrop against which Canada and other NATO member states later this month are expected to back an agreement to steeply increase in their national defence budgets, moving to five per cent of GDP from two per cent. If agreed to, it will result in many billions of dollars going to weapons, tanks, planes and soldiers' salaries. But before those purchases can go ahead, there will be many difficult choices made about how to come up with the funds. Governments always talk about finding budget efficiencies for unexpected priorities, though saving is not a specialty for which politicians are well suited. Even Donald Trump and Elon Musk came up spectacularly short of their savings pledges through the Department of Government Efficiency. More frequently, governments end up robbing Peter in order to pay Paul, as the saying goes — cutting spending in on domain to increase it in another. That is exactly what the United Kingdom did with blunt effect when it announced earlier this year that it would slash foreign aid spending drastically in order to increase the defence budget. 'Few countries have articulated such a direct, one-to-one trade off before between those two areas of public spending,' noted a report from ODI Global , a think tank, that criticized the British government for thinking of defence and foreign-aid spending as an either-or choice. Similar potential trade offs are cause for concern in Canada. Will the urgency to build oil pipelines and assert the country as an 'energy superpower' in new markets come at the cost of Canada's fight against global warming? Carney's reputation as a climate-change warrior is well-established, but his use of the oil-and-gas industry's ' marketing speak ' at a recent meeting first ministers' meeting with provincial premiers has some worried about the economy taking priority over the environment. Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national association representing Canadian Inuit, wasn't even invited to the first ministers' meeting, which concluded with a statement about the need to 'unlock the North's economic potential.' 'It is troubling that in 2025, the Government of Canada is so comfortable with empty rhetoric in place of rightful participation,' the Inuit association said in a news release . The legislation to get Carney's economic fast-track transformation under way — one that the Liberal government wants to pass into law by Canada Day — was decried by the Assembly of First Nations, which had just seven days to provide any concerns about the bill, APTN News reported . There are those who will defend a go-fast approach to governing in extraordinary times. They will warn that there is a greater risk in being sunk by the status quo — the never-ending consultations, the delays, red-tape entanglements. 'The advantage of a wartime mentality lies in the sense of urgency it introduces, and the readiness it encourages to push aside unnecessary bureaucratic barriers,' wrote Lawrence Freedman, an emeritus professor of War Studies at King's College London, in a piece about Russia, Ukraine and Europe. It's a line that can be applied as equally to Ottawa as to Moscow, Kyiv, Paris, Brussels or London. But one person's bureaucratic barrier is the next person's guard rail — a measure ensuring confidence, protecting against damaging errors, saving lives. Moving at high speeds, it can be difficult to spot the difference.
