Calgary project gets federal support

A pilot project aimed at giving young people a sense of belonging so that they are less vulnerable to recruitment by criminal or terrorist groups will continue with full funding from the federal government.

Police and community organizations in Calgary launched the Redirect program in 2015 to help young people deemed vulnerable to radicalization. It was announced Monday that it is to receive $1.3 million from Ottawa over five years.

“The program has two main goals: preventing young adults from turning to extremism and helping

police officers better recognize the signs of radicalization and violent extremism in our city,” police Insp. Leah Barber said Monday.

“The biggest part of this is to make sure they feel like they’re part of their own community, so they don’t want to be violent toward it, or they don’t want to fly across the world to be part of something that’s violent.

“We want them to feel like they belong here.”

A report last year on the terrorist threat in Canada said that there were more than 130 Canadians at the start of 2014 who were abroad and suspected of terror-related activities.

By the end of 2015, the number had grown to about 180, and the government knew of about 60 extremists who had returned to Canada.

The program looks for at-risk youth and links them with a police officer and a social worker.