Federal government to contribute $1 million to Toronto to prevent violence from extremists

Thestar.com
September 7, 2018
Ilya Banares

The federal government announced on Thursday that it will be providing upwards of a million dollars to the Toronto Police Service over the next three years to fund a program aimed at preventing violent extremism.

Marco Mendicino, parliamentary secretary to the federal Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and Eglinton--Lawrence MP, announced the $1,048,000 contribution at a press conference at police headquarters at 40 College St.

Eglinton-Lawrence MP Marco Mendicino announced new funding to the Toronto police's violence prevention program, and said it was "essential."

The funds will be disbursed from the Community Resilience Fund to FOCUS (Furthering Our Community by Uniting Services) Toronto, a program launched five years ago and led by police, the city and United Way.

FOCUS Toronto “aims to reduce crime and victimization and improve community resiliency and well-being,” according to a news release.

“Canada is not immune to the threat of terrorism, nor are we immune to the danger posed by those who are radicalized to violence,” Mendicino said. “It is increasingly important to focus on prevention and intervention directed at individuals that are at-risk of adopting dangerous ideologies.”

Mendicino characterized the program as “essential.”

“We also know that Canada’s strength comes from its diversity and we will not be intimidated by those who seek to divide us or promote fear,” he added.

According to the release, the program has police, social workers, legal experts and school board representatives meet weekly to discuss a “targeted” approach to help vulenerable individuals and families in places with heightened risk levels.

“When it comes to radicalization of any kind, the key to success is involving our communities who we are serving and all levels of government,” police chief Mark Saunders said.

“I have had the experience of going to the FOCUS Toronto table and watching them work,” Mayor John Tory said.
“It is something to behold. What you have there is the smartest, most dedicated, most sensitive and most informed people from all walks of professional life, focusing themselves on individual cases, person by person, in a sensitive and professional way.”

Sgt. Brian Smith, a FOCUS Toronto coordinator, said the funds will partly be used for training.

“The training we are doing is Violence Threat Risk Assessment and it’s basically the gold standard in Canada for all forms of violence prevention,” Smith said.

“It will very much help the trainees in relation to understanding the radicalization type of violence.”