OTTAWA, Sept. 6, 2018 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is working with local law enforcement to address radicalization to violence by supporting prevention and intervention initiatives that strengthen collaboration among partners.
Today Marco Mendicino, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Eglinton—Lawrence (Ontario), on behalf of the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, announced $1,048,000 over three years from the Community Resilience Fund to help the Toronto Police Service expand FOCUS Toronto, a collaborative prevention and intervention program involving multiple local agencies whose goal is to reduce crime and improve community resiliency in Toronto.
FOCUS Toronto is led by the Toronto Police Service, the City of Toronto, the United Way, and partnered with local community organizations. Today's announced funding will support FOCUS Toronto in receiving, assessing, and processing information on persons at risk of being radicalized to violent extremism and will contribute to better training for those who work directly with such individuals.
The Community Resilience Fund supports the efforts of the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence to deliver on Public Safety Canada's commitment to prevent radicalization to violence.
Quotes
"Intervention and prevention programming in our communities are critical to countering radicalization to violence. This investment in FOCUS Toronto will advance the important work of the Toronto Police Service in implementing a collaborative program that draws on the support, expertise and advice of practitioners and civil society to prevent this phenomenon. The Government of Canada is proud to support locally-driven initiatives such as this."
- Marco Mendicino, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and Member of Parliament for Eglinton—Lawrence (Ontario)
"The funding provided to the Toronto Police Service through the Community Resilience Fund has allowed us to improve our countering violent extremism approach. The most beneficial aspect of this funding is that it will enhance the ability of multiple agencies to identify individuals of elevated risk of offending and allow for referral to existing multidiscipline collaborative agencies city-wide in order to prevent and counter radicalization as early as possible."
- Chief Mark Saunders, Toronto Police Service
Quick Facts
- The collaborative approach used by FOCUS Toronto is also known as a "situation table" or "intervention table," and is a regular meeting between law enforcement representatives and practitioners who work together to review cases of individuals at high risk of radicalization, and coordinate interventions to remove them from that path.
- The Canada Centre provides funding to organizations that work to counter radicalization to violence in Canada through the Community Resilience Fund. Projects under the Community Resilience Fund will improve Canada's ability to address radicalization at the local level by supporting intervention research and programming, information sharing, and outreach activities.
- The Community Resilience Fund provided $2.4 million in funds for existing and new projects in 2017-2018 and $4.4 million in 2018-19. For 2019-20 and beyond, this fund will have $7 million available each year for existing and new projects.
Associated Links
- FOCUS Toronto
- Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence
- Community Resilience Fund
SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada
Scott Bardsley, Senior Advisor for Communications, Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, 613-998-5681, [email protected]; Media Relations, Public Safety Canada, 613-991-0657, [email protected]
Share this article