Siksika Nation breaks ground on Crowfoot Public Safety Building
Siksika Nation has broken ground and construction is underway on its new Crowfoot Public Safety Building on the eastern side of the reserve.
Leaders say it will help improve safety by reducing response times, and the ultimate goal is to have the building also be the future home of its independent Siksika police force.
Currently, public safety and security officers dispatch from a building near Highway 547 on the west side of the reservation boundary.
"Starting from the beginning, I was one of the first. Seeing everything grow and build here is exciting," said Dustin Daniels, peace officer for Siksika.
He says since 2020, there's come to be a total of four peace officers that patrol a vast and rural landscape and he is eager for the new building, located 13 kilometres further east, to shorten the travel time for officers.
"From the west end to Bassano dam takes roughly 45 minutes for us, so being down here would cost us 25 minutes to half an hour, depending on which route we take," said Daniels.
The new public safety building will be adjacent to a former residential school site.
COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENTS
It's the latest building block for Siksika in self-determination.
Last summer, the nation settled a $1.3-billion land claim settlement with the federal government and committed to community improvements.
In October, Siksika established its own bylaw prosecutions office.
Leaders say they have two years left in the process to create a police service dedicated to the nation.
"Not having enough security is a problem that all reservations face on both sides of the border, and we wanted to make sure that doesn't apply here on Siksika. We want to make sure our people are safe," said Samuel Crowfoot, Siksika councillor.
With an estimated cost of $1 million, officials with MODUS, an Alberta-based modular construction company, say the building is 40 per cent complete in a pre-fabrication process.
"It will be durable, it will be solid, it will be highly functional and it will be a safe and secure place for people to congregate and be," said Allan Willms, president and CEO for MODUS.
Willms says the structure will be one-storey high and about 3,600 square feet.
Doors are expected to open this October.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.