March 2, 2015 – Ottawa – Public Safety Canada
Today, the Honourable Steven Blaney, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, gave the welcoming address at the second Summit on the Economics of Policing and Community Safety: Innovation and Partnerships in Ottawa.
Minister Blaney highlighted the many measures that the Harper Government has introduced to better allow law enforcement officials across the country to keep our streets and communities safe, with the most recent example being the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015. Through the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015 the Government of Canada is taking additional action to criminalize the promotion of terrorism and ensure our law enforcement and national security agencies can: counter those who advocate terrorism; prevent terrorist travel and the efforts of those who seek to use Canada as a recruiting ground; and disrupt planned attacks on Canadian soil.
These measures build upon numerous other measures introduced by the Harper Government to better protect Canadians and their families including, the Combatting Terrorism Act, the creation of the CBSA most wanted list, the Tougher Penalties for Child Predators Act, the Tackling Violent Crime Act, and the Safe Streets and Communities Act, amongst many others.
The Economics of Policing and Community Safety initiative has been a successful partnership between all levels of government, the three national policing associations (Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, Canadian Association of Police Governance and Canadian Police Association), academics and other stakeholders, aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability of Canadian police services. Significant progress has been made since the initiative was first approved by Federal, Provincial and Territorial (FPT) Ministers responsible for Justice and Public Safety at their January 2012 meeting.
During his address, Minister Blaney also announced the Canadian Policing Research Catalogue– a central, widely accessible online library for Canadian policing research. It consolidates over 5000 documents summarizing research conducted by academics, police services and other researchers, making them available across Canada and around the world. The Catalogue addresses a major gap in policing research in Canada and is a key deliverable under the Economics of Policing and Community Safety Shared Forward Agenda, an objective of which is to disseminate policing research findings.
Quick Facts
- The Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015 builds upon numerous measures introduced by the Harper Government to give law enforcement officials the tools they need to keep our streets and communities safe.
- This legislation includes a comprehensive package of measures that will:
- criminalize the advocacy or promotion of terrorism offences in general;
- counter terrorist recruitment by giving our courts the authority to order the removal of terrorist propaganda online;
- enhance the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)'s powers to address threats to the security of Canada while ensuring that courts maintain oversight;
- provide law enforcement agencies with enhanced ability to disrupt terrorism offences and terrorist activity;
- enhance the Passenger Protect Program by further mitigating threats to transportation security and preventing travel by air for the purpose of engaging in terrorism;
- make it easier for law enforcement agencies to detain suspected terrorists before they can harm Canadians and to toughen penalties for violating court ordered conditions on terrorist suspects; and
- enable the effective and responsible sharing of relevant national security information across federal departments and agencies to better identify and address threats.
Quote
“The first duty of any government is to keep its citizen safe, a responsibility that Prime Minister Harper and our Government take very seriously. Canadians deserve to feel confident that their streets and communities are safe and that is why we recently introduced the Anti-terrorism Act, 2015 to better protect Canadians from the evolving threat of terror. Our Government is taking action to ensure that law enforcement professionals have the tools they need to protect Canadians and their families.”
– The Honourable Steven Blaney, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Contacts
Jean-Christophe de Le Rue
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
613-991-2924
Media Relations
Public Safety Canada
613-991-0657
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For more information, please visit the website www.publicsafety.gc.ca.
