HALIFAX, July 8, 2008 - Today the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, along with the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and the Honourable Cecil Clarke, Attorney General and Minister of Justice for Nova Scotia, announced an investment of $148,900 to support a crime prevention project in Nova Scotia.
The Community Counts project, sponsored by the Nova Scotia Department of Justice, will gather and assemble data on crime, victimization and related factors to enable communities to access the data they need to put together an evidence-based community safety profile. The project will bring regional knowledge on crime to a community level and correlate it with known risk factors for future criminal behaviour. This community-level data will help communities gain a better understanding of crime trends and enable organizations to focus local crime prevention efforts where they are most needed. The data will also be useful for future evaluation work to enhance our knowledge of what works.
"The Government of Canada is committed to keeping our families and communities safe," said Minister Day. "We are pleased to support this project that will give local-level organizations the tools necessary to identify neighbourhoods and populations most in need of effective crime prevention interventions."
"Research and data gathered through the Community Counts project will help communities put results-driven programs to work to address crime at its roots," said Minister MacKay.
"The best decisions are based on evidence and I believe this investment will provide a clearer picture of crime in communities. This will allow us to tailor our strategies for prevention at a much more local level," said Minister Clarke.
Funding for this project is from the National Crime Prevention Strategy. The Strategy provides funding support to strategically selected projects that contribute to preventing and reducing crime as well as increasing knowledge about what works in crime prevention.
Priorities for funding include:
- addressing early risk factors among vulnerable children and youth;
- preventing youth gang and drug-related crime;
- preventing recidivism among high-risk groups; and
- fostering prevention in Aboriginal communities.
Budget 2008 provides $30 million per year in additional, ongoing funds to the National Crime Prevention Strategy. The Strategy is administered by Public Safety Canada's National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC) and is managed in collaboration with the provinces and territories.
Information:
Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
Mélisa Leclerc
Director of Communications
Office of the Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety
613-991-2863
