Fort McKay First Nation has joined the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business as a Patron Member.

Sexual assault centres will be receiving $2 million more from the province and women’s emergency shelters will receive $3 million more to support 70 new beds and an additional $1 million for salary and benefit increases to help retain and recruit staff. The additional funding is part of the province’s plan to improve the lives of vulnerable children and families, with more supports added so victims of family violence and sexual abuse can better access help. “Sexual assault and family violence are difficult to talk about, but victims deserve the best system of supports that we can offer.

First Nations and Métis settlements are eligible to apply for funding along with municipalities from the Alberta Community Resilience Program for projects that protect critical municipal infrastructure from flooding and drought. The recently announced cost-share program will direct $325 million to municipalities over the next three years for projects such as berms, dikes, and riverbank stabilization. Eligible projects may either protect infrastructure such as public buildings, roads, or wastewater systems, enhance public safety, or improve evacuation times.

New research suggests an increasing number of people outside of Edmonton and Calgary are homeless. The Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research commissioned the project, which looked at 20 rural communities in Alberta and another 20 rural communities across the country. Overall, Drs. Jeanette Waegemakers-Schiff and Alina Turner found homelessness persists in those communities.

A fatality inquiry into the murder of a 17-year old Aboriginal ward of the calls for more funding for Aboriginal children in care. Judge F.K. MacDonald, who conducted the inquiry into the stabbing death of the youth dubbed “M,” which occurred Apr. 25, 2009, said, “The care of a youth like M would be a challenge for any organization, let alone one that is inadequately funded.