Gang prevention program for Muslim youth in Maritimes receives federal funding

The federal government has announced $1.2 million in funding for a new program that aims to help Muslim youth in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick avoid joining gangs and taking part in criminal activity.

“This project will help to steer youth away from a life of crime and give them the support they need to make safer, healthier choices in life,” said federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree.

Anandasangaree was in Halifax Friday to make the announcement in partnership with Ummah Society, a Muslim-led charity in Atlantic Canada.

The project, dubbed Gang Busters: Reducing Youth Violence And Gang Involvement, will focus on young people aged 15 to 30.

Organizers say the program will address factors such as social isolation and discrimination, while offering mentorship and prevention-based programming.

“In Halifax, as in many cities across Canada, we face real challenges. Some of our youth experience isolation, poverty, online radicalization, and pressure that can lead toward gang involvement and many other issues,” said Abdullah Yousri, the CEO of Ummah Society.

“This funding is more than a financial contribution. It is an investment in local leadership, community trust and the organizations working every day on the front lines to support our young.”

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Yousri said the support that will be offered could include counselling and therapy services, as well as cultural, religious and linguistic support for youth. The program is projected to help 700 people.

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“These are the youth that we wanted to re-engage … in the community and work with them and we see them and identify them as youth at risk from engaging in such activities,” he said.

Anandasangaree added that the funding, which is through Public Safety Canada’s Youth Gang Prevention Fund, is particularly important at this time — not just for the Maritimes but for all of Canada.

The country is still reeling from the impacts of the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting in B.C., where an 18-year-old shooter killed eight people.

As well, recent cases of young people being arrested and charged for alleged participation in the online extremist group, 764 Network, highlight the growing concerns about youth violence.

Liberal MP Shannon Miedema, who represents Halifax, said it’s important for a growing city to get ahead of these problems.

“I would say it’s not about number or frequency, it’s about really focusing on that critical prevention that we need to do to try and ensure that that doesn’t happen again,” she said.

A sentiment echoed by the public safety minister.

“Certainly as a major city, a major hub within the region, it does provide for those opportunities to escalate, and our objective is prevention,” said Anandasangaree.