Today Ron McKinnon, Member of Parliament for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, on behalf of the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, announced close to $2 million over five years from the Community Resilience Fund to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General in BC to develop intervention programs for individuals vulnerable to becoming radicalized to violence.

“To build safer communities across our country, we must explore and invest in the tools that prevent violent acts before they occur. The factors that influence people vulnerable to adopt violent behaviours can be unique to each case, and projects like Shift allow us to take an approach that leverages community experts and services as part of our efforts to disengage at-risk individuals from radicalizing to violence.”  

• Ron McKinnon, Member of Parliament for Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, on behalf of Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

“With secured funding through Public Safety Canada’s Community Resilience Fund, this program will ensure those at risk of radicalization to violence get the services they need, and will also help keep communities safe. While we know that the rate of people becoming radicalized to violence in B.C. is quite low, we also know and have seen in multiple instances around the world, that just one violent act can result in tragic consequences. Supporting these efforts at a local level is key to successful prevention.”

• Honourable Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General

• The Community Resilience Fund had $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.

• Shift will run from 2018-2022. The project will apply best practices from existing intervention programs and initiatives across the country, and evaluate their effectiveness in reducing violent extremism.

• Recently, the Canada Centre released a What We Heard report on the results of its public consultation on countering radicalization to violence.  The Government believes it is important for Canadians to be informed and participate in discussions on this important issue.

• Research has shown that the best solutions for addressing radicalization to violence often come from the community-level, which is where the Canada Centre focusses much of its efforts.

Associated links

• Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence
• Community Resilience Fund
• Ipsos What We Heard Report

Scott Bardsley
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
613-998-5681
scott.bardsley@canada.ca

Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
ps.mediarelations-relationsaveclesmedias.sp@canada.ca