Families of slain EPS officers to receive $100K from provincial heroes’ fund

The families of two Edmonton Police Service officers killed in the line of duty this week will receive $100,000 from Alberta’s provincial fund for first responders, the premier says.

Premier Danielle Smith made the announcement during her Corus radio program Saturday, saying the grieving families of constables Brett Ryan and Travis Jordan will receive funds from the Alberta Heroes’ Fund.

“Const. Brett Ryan and Const. Travis Jordan are both young men with young families, and so one of the things that we have to support families is our Heroes’ Fund,” Smith said on Your Province, Your Premier.

“So the families will get $100,000 each to be able to help with the costs associated with having to deal with this horrible tragedy,” she added.

Along with the payment, the families will be further supported by donations from a GoFundMe page that the Edmonton Police Foundation established. As of Saturday afternoon, the fundraiser has reached nearly $240,000.

The Heroes’ Fund was established in 2020 and provides one-time, tax-free gifts to grieving families of police officers, paramedics, firefighters, sheriffs and provincial correction officers killed during active duty.

Each year, the province commits $1.5 million to the fund.

“It’s very rare when we lose an officer. It was a really rough week for everybody,” Smith said. “It was a really rough week for everybody as we watched this tragedy unfold.”

During the show, the premier stated a regimental funeral would take place in the coming weeks. Hours afterwards, she retracted that information in a statement posted to social media.

“This morning I shared information on the regimental funerals for Constables Brett Ryan and Travis Jordan,” the statement read. “The details of the funerals are not fully confirmed and finalized at the moment.

“I would ask that the public wait for the [Edmonton Police Service] to provide the date and full details,” the premier added.

In a statement to CTV News Edmonton, police said the funeral arrangements are still being finalized.

“This is premature,” said Scott Pattison, EPS spokesperson. “We will let media and the public know once [funeral] plans for Constables Ryan and Jordan have been finalized.”