Canada to invest $ 1 mn for violence prevention and intervention program

The Government of Canada is committed to addressing radicalization to violence by working with community partners to keep Canadians safe.

The Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, on behalf of the Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, announced nearly $1 million over four years from the Community Resilience Fund to the Ottawa Police Service to expand a countering radicalization to violence prevention and intervention program.

Joan McKenna, Acting Deputy Chief, Ottawa Police Service said, "The funding provided to our Service through the Community Resilience Fund will support the collaborative risk approach of Ottawa MERIT to support prevention work targeted to those at risk of radicalization to violent extremism with our community partners. This funding will support the development of a city-wide strategy for preventing and countering radicalization, and speak to the needs expressed in many of our communities to create effective tools that will support partner agencies to triage, assess, support and refer individuals at risk."

Ottawa MERIT (Multiagency Early Risk Intervention Tables) is a collaborative intervention program involving multiple local agencies, whose goal is to improve access to social services for at-risk individuals, including those at risk of radicalizing to violence and broaden prevention work in Ottawa. Funding will be used to assess local needs, train frontline practitioners and law enforcement representatives, and build awareness in the community about preventing and countering radicalization to violence.

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.