Crime Prevention Funding Announcement

Remarks by
The Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety

September 10, 2007
Saskatoon, SK
As delivered

Thank you so much for your very kind remarks. This Core Youth Neighbourhood Co-op looks like a people-oriented place, no nonsense – a let's get the resources working and reach out and make things happen kind of place. So I'm excited to be here. I've heard a lot about the good work that happens here.

I should let you know that it's our view that the first responsibility of any government is the safety and security of its citizens. If you can't maintain safety and security then you're going to have problems. We take that role very seriously.

Let me paint a large picture for you. It won't be as good as some of these pictures that I see here on the wall, but I'll try and live up to that artistic merit. First of all, there's the enforcement side, which is always necessary. In terms of dealing with criminals – people that work in the area of criminal justice know this – the police are the people who serve and protect.

We made a commitment very early in our mandate that we would begin funding federally 1,000 more RCMP personnel across the country. That's taking into account our regular growth – so 1,000 more on top of that. And we've already started that process. I was in Regina yesterday and today, and at the training facility for the RCMP, you can see that the $37 million has gone into expanding the training facilities.

We also made a commitment to all municipalities and all provinces that there will be 2,500 more municipal police officers through a cost-shared program. This is because their presence on the street and in a community, just their physical presence, has an impact on crime and brings order. It just kind of brings the temperature down through a preventative capacity.

There are also specific areas that people in regions across the country have told us are important and could use even more resources. Areas like the computerization and high-tech quality of the RCMP's Child Exploitation Coordination Centre will receive an extra $6 million this year. We will also have more Integrated Border Enforcement Teams working together with the provinces and across the border to deal with things like drug and gun smuggling – areas that are very important – and they've received increased funding.

I'm sure in a place like this you talk a lot about the importance of a person's identity. One of the greatest areas of increase in criminal activity is in identity theft. People's identities are being stolen in terms of their passport numbers, their credit cards and their financial information. That weakens the confidence that citizens can have in our financial structures. Across the board we're pooling resources there.

On the legislative side, we're bringing in certain laws to deal with some of the most dangerous individuals that might be out there – dangerous offenders. People who recommit crimes with firearms should be taken off the street for a period – a good period of time. When it comes to some of these very serious repeat or especially violent crimes and crimes with firearms, police officers in a particular region can identify when a certain type of crime might spike upwards. So we're doing a number of things on the legislative side.

That's about enforcement, what we call the long arm of the law. But there is another very important side and that's prevention. That's where there is the type of work that goes on here and in other groups and agencies. The preventative side means the projects that are developed by the people in a local area in programs that work.

We've looked at the money that's been going out over the last few years and decided that there has to be some clear guidelines on the types of programs that we are funding.

I'm not going to come into this area and pretend to know what programs you need to have. You know what programs you need. You know what types of things have had the potential to work. We just set out some broad guidelines. We want to see programs where families at risk, vulnerable families and youth at risk are identified and reached. We want to look at areas where we see some of the greatest increases in criminal activity.

You may have seen a Statistics Canada report that talked about decrease in criminal activity. There has been some decrease. But there's been an increase in the serious areas, in the rate of aggravated assault and homicide among youth charged. It's the highest since we've maintained statistics in that area beginning in 1961. There are some areas of serious crime that are moving up and certain areas of gang activity moving up.

We also believe that people in the local areas who are in touch with their community, in touch with their young people and with others on the street, know what kind of programs would be best to help people there. They can offer a choice, offer a difference, offer something better than gang activity or involvement with drugs. There are certainly better choices, but people need to be able to get a hold on them. That's why we need programs like this.

So today, under our National Crime Prevention Strategy, I'm pleased to announce $2.5 million in funding to eight specific programs from this area and around Saskatchewan. These projects are going to lead to more people being reached, to crime rates going down, vulnerable families strengthened and an Aboriginal component that deals with some of the issues closest to their hearts.

I want to thank the people who work in these programs who are with us today. Thank you. And if you're involved with one of these programs raise your hand just so we know. Some of these people are able to be here today. For instance, the Marieval Enterprise Centre's project Youth Boards Fight Crime – are any of those people here? That's a unique program that's aimed at youth and young adults in rural and First Nations communities.

Anybody here from Communities for Children: Saskatoon's Planning Council for a Child and Youth-Friendly Community? There are two there. Girls Action and Information Network – GAIN's project called Decreasing Crime by Increasing Skills. We've got some of the folks from GAIN. Thank you for being here. These are powerful ways to be reaching out.

And there is Beardy's & Okemasis Band Justice Department with the In Search of Your Warrior program. Anybody here from that program? These are programs reaching out to the community. This one is going to look at reducing drug abuse among local youth.

And then there's Youth Leadership North. This is a Phase 2 program and it comes from the New North – Saskatchewan Association of Northern Communities Services. Anybody from that one? This particular program is looking at skills in Northern Saskatchewan youth and that's going to result in a reduction of crime and victimization in those particular communities.

And then we've got the Kamsack Detour's Drop-in/Resource Centre, New Directions. Thanks for being here. That's a great program that's going to be associated with gang activity, looking at clear, targeted and specific interventions. So thank you for the work you're going to be doing there.

And Carry the Kettle First Nation Crime Prevention Project, anybody here from that one? Again, that's looking at reducing drug-related crime.

And the YWCA. Anybody come down from Prince Albert today and the Y's Choices: A New Beginning? Ah, yes. There they are right there, not wanting to be missed, waving their hands. Thank you. And they'll be looking at those who are at risk of re-offending. It's such an important area that we're feeling so positive about the program that you're doing and are going to continue to do there.

And the Prince Albert Outreach Program, Youth Alliance Against Gang Violence. Great. We've got some great representatives. It's going to be a multi-year project that has community-based intervention looking at individuals and families. I'm so encouraged to see the recognition that so much of this problem is comprised of reaching out to a whole family and to helping to get things settled there.

That's just an example of the eight programs and the over $2.5 million that's going to be directed. I'm very encouraged by the work of people like this and glad that we can work with them. As you know, we audit these and any programs that are put in place. You're going to find some things that work and you're going to find some things that don't work. And those are things that you need to share with your colleagues. When we find something that works, other people are going to follow and the benefit is spread right across the country. When we find things that don't work, that's also valuable information because that shows there's a path that's maybe not worth going down and we can re-shift and refocus the resources.

So thanks very much for the good work you're doing. Thanks for the changes we are going to see in some of the challenges we're facing here today. That makes me feel encouraged. I'm always glad to be here. Thanks for the good work you're doing.