Event Series on Countering Radicalization to Violence Concludes in Ottawa

OTTAWA, March 27, 2019/CNW/ - Keeping Canadian families and communities safe from terrorism and violent extremism requires everyone's collaboration. That's why the Government of Canada works with national and international experts to build best practices and share knowledge to counter radicalization in our country.

Today marked the conclusion of a weeklong event series, organized by the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre), to further the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence. The Canada Centre's 2019 Event Series brought together experts on violent radicalization and encouraged collaboration across sectors, organizations, academia and governments to address the issue. Some topics that were discussed during the Event Series include:

• Understanding and challenging online hate and intolerance, and improving access to justice;
• Improving efforts to counter violent extremism by integrating gender considerations;
• Using online tools to map indicators of harm at a local level, and leveraging the information in traditional approaches to prevention, intervention, mitigation and response;
• Sharing best practices for countering radicalization to violence in a francophone context;
• Discussing the impacts of misinformation on elections and incidents of terrorism, and appropriate countermeasures; and,
• Designing ethical technologies to address violent extremism and terrorist use of the internet

Quotes

"Hatred, violence, and all forms of extremism have no place in any society. It is essential that we continue bringing experts to the table, and to develop tools and resources using the most up-to-date knowledge to tackle these urgent and complex problems. There is a lot more we can continue to do together on this issue to intervene to stop individuals before they reach the point of violence."

- The Honourable Ralph Goodale, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Quick Facts

• In December 2018, the Government of Canada launched the National Strategy on Countering Radicalization to Violence, which outlines Canada's approach and priorities to prevent the kind of radicalization that leads to violence to begin with.
• The Canada Centre collaborated with a number of diverse organizations to deliver the Event Series, including: the Canadian Practitioners Network for Prevention of Radicalization and extremist Violence (CPN-PREV), Moonshot CVE, Ottawa MERIT, British Columbia Shift, the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society (TSAS), Chaire UNESCO PREV, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the United States Embassy, the British High Commission, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Norwegian Embassy, and the Public Policy Forum.
• Member of Parliament for Hull-Aylmer, Greg Fergus, opened the event on collaboration in countering violent extremism in a francophone context, hosted by UNESCO-PREV, the Organisation international de la Francophonie, and CPN-PREV.
• Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Karen McCrimmon, delivered opening remarks at a panel discussion hosted by the United States Embassy on connecting efforts to address online harm, which included representatives from Twitter, Google, VOX-Pol Network of Excellence, and the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate.

Associated Links

• Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence
• Understanding Radicalization to Violence

SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada