Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for the invitation to appear and to discuss Public Safety Canada's role in addressing systemic racism and religious discrimination, including Islamophobia.
Specifically, I will be speaking about the role of the Canada Centre for Canadian Engagement and the Prevention of Violence, which was formally launched by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness this June. I'll be talking about our role in the context of addressing radicalization to violence and issues of hate, and also about some research outcomes and programming.
The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence was established to coordinate a more effective approach to countering violent extremism, which can include hate crimes and hate incidents.
Canada is viewed by many around the world as a model of peace, stability and diversity. However, our country isn't immune to racist violence and hatred. The tragic shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Québec in Sainte-Foy; efforts to stop a potential bomber in Strathroy-Caradoc, Ontario; and the people who have been motivated to travel to conflict zones to support terrorist groups show us that there is no single ideology or cause of radicalization to violence.
In our view, radicalization to violence is a process through which a person adopts a belief or ideology that justifies violence to achieve a political, religious, or ideological objective. Violent beliefs or ideologies can be premised on intolerance or hatred towards an ethnic, religious, or cultural group. In this context, radicalization to violence may not only lead to terrorist activity but may also lead to hate crimes against certain groups. The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence provides national leadership and coordination on efforts to prevent radicalization to violence in three areas: first, we try to advance key policy priorities, such as the development of the national strategy to counter radicalization to violence; second, we support action-oriented research; and finally, we look to invest in local-level programming through the recently launched community resilience fund. To support its mandate, the centre has commenced engaging broadly with different levels of government, civil society, academia, the private sector, and most importantly Canadians, to discuss its work and help shape the development of this national strategy to counter radicalization to violence. Deep and meaningful engagement will help inform programming, research, and policy priorities. Coordinating efforts across all levels to ensure that Canadians have the full range of tools and mechanisms to address the array of threats facing our communities, including hate crimes and violent extremism, is our key priority.
Over the past few years, the department has funded research initiatives to improve our knowledge and evidence base on a range of issues related to extremist violence, including both terrorist activity and far-right violence. Several studies have examined best practices in developing alternative narratives aimed at diminishing expressions of hatred and violent extremism online. Examples of best practices include the use of humour and the building of empathy between speakers and recipients of hate speech to shift the conversation away from expressions of hate and de-escalate the risk of violence. Other best practices highlight the need for alternative narrative campaigns to be sustainable, to use appropriate platforms to reach the targeted audience, and to better understand the needs of a particular audience.
Public Safety Canada has also funded and supported a number of studies pertaining to right-wing extremism in Canada. In 2016, academics Barbara Perry and Ryan Scrivens published an in-depth portrait of the right-wing extremism movement in Canada. One of the findings of the report recommends using a multi-agency effort by partnering law enforcement with anti-hate community organizations to better address the threat. A second study on “The Future of Right-Wing Terrorism in Canada” was authored by Richard Parent and James Ellis as part of a working paper series by the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society, also known as TSAS. The study points to Canada's democratic institutions, its support for diversity, and its policies of multiculturalism as resources against extreme right-wing ideas and movements. These studies provide critical information to inform on how best to design our approaches to counter violent extremism, including violence motivated by hatred.
Budget 2016 provided ongoing funding to create the community resilience fund, which gives financial assistance to organizations undertaking programming and research to address radicalization to violence in Canada.
The fund will be a key element of the Canada Centre's efforts to build domestic capacity at the local level and develop research. Four key priority areas for the fund have been identified. These are intervention programming; performance measurement and evaluation tools; action-oriented research; and youth engagement and the development of alternative narratives.
The fund’s current call for proposals is open until October 1, 2017. We hope to receive many proposals.
The centre is currently supporting a number of programming initiatives to help build local resources and services. One example is Project Someone, and that means “social media education every day”. It's based out of Montreal, and provides tools and training for educators who want to promote discussions on and awareness of hate speech through art and multimedia platforms.
Other examples of programming include support to multi-agency hubs to conduct interventions with at-risk individuals, and developing needs assessments on capabilities, vulnerabilities, and skills gaps in communities in the online space.
We are funding the development of the Canada evidence-based practitioners' network, which aims to support the growing community of professional practitioners and civil society actors in Canada who are involved in assessment, prevention, and intervention with individuals at risk of violent radicalization. Our approach is to support local solutions to local problems using local actors, as we feel this is a more effective way to support communities.
We are working with partners across Canada and internationally to share best practices, increase understanding of violent extremism, fund innovative projects and initiatives, and improve our ability to measure and evaluate results to demonstrate accountability to Canadians.
In addition to the community resilience fund, Public Safety Canada also has the communities at risk: security infrastructure program, which is commonly referred to as SIP. SIP will invest $10 million over the next five years with $2 million annually to help support not-for-profit organizations with their security infrastructure improvement needs. This can help communities that feel they are at risk of hate crimes improve the security of their places of worship, community centres, and educational institutions.
In conclusion, I'd just like to reiterate that hatred and radicalization to violence are interconnected issues that require many perspectives, a strong evidence base, and firm commitment on the part of all levels of government and Canadians to address them. Ongoing engagement with Canadians will help us better understand how we can best support and improve capacity at the local level to overcome the influence of violent ideologies and hateful beliefs. We are committed to working extensively with Canadians and with colleagues at every level of government to address this issue. I look forward to discussing this issue with you today and reading the outcomes of your study.