Government of Canada funds research into far-right extremism in Quebec

LONGUEUIL, QC, Aug. 21, 2019  /CNW/ - The Government of Canada supports local research that can inform ways to keep our communities safe from growing threats. Today, Sherry Romanado, Member of Parliament for Longueuil – Charles-LeMoyne and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors, on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Honourable Ralph Goodale, announced $304,253 over three years to the Centre of Expertise and Training on Religious Fundamentalism, Political Ideologies and Radicalization (CEFIR) at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil, and its regional partners, to research far-right extremism in Quebec.

The college's project, The Far-Right in Quebec: Actors, Ideologies, and Prevention, will examine the far-right extremism movement in Quebec through media research and interviews with experts and activists. The results from this project will support local organizations and police services to better counter the growing movement in the province.

The project will also develop workshops that will be delivered at schools and youth programs in the Montégérie region of Quebec. Equipping young people on how to deal with extremist rhetoric is an important aspect of the program, since youth are often the most susceptible targets of far-right extremism.

This project was financed by the Government of Canada's Community Resilience Fund, a key tool for supporting partnerships and innovation in the field of countering radicalization to violence in Canada.

Quotes

"By developing a stronger grasp of the behaviors and motivations that fuel the current far-right extremism movement in Quebec, we can support local organizations and police services to develop better tools and strategies to counter this dangerous ideology and to help keep our communities safe."

- Sherry Romanado, Member of Parliament for Longueuil – Charles-LeMoyne and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors

"This grant reinforces CEFIR's strategic position in Quebec as a research and training center that contributes to the resilience of the community in the face of social polarization. The normalization of far-right discourses must be, like all extremist discourses, limited by social and digital education."

- Dr. Martin Geoffroy, Director of the CEFIR at the Cegep Édouard-Montpetit

Quick Facts

• The Community Resilience Fund is managed by the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence, which leads the Government of Canada's efforts to counter radicalization to violence.
• Right-wing extremism refers to a range of individuals and groups, often in online communities, who hold a wide range of issues and grievances that are backed by hatred and fear. These can include, but are not limited to: anti-government and anti-law enforcement sentiment, the advocacy of white nationalism and racial separation, and anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
• In June 2019, the Government of Canada published an update to the Criminal Code list of terrorist entities that included, for the first time, two right-wing extremist groups with a presence in Canada.

Associated Links

• The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence
• The Community Resilience Fund

SOURCE Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada

Contacts: Scott Bardsley, Manager of Media and Communications, Office of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, 613-998-5681, [email protected]; Media Relations, Public Safety Canada, 613-991-0657, [email protected]