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Global Crises, Local Impacts: The Role of Canadian Cities in Maintaining Social Cohesion

Publication Date:

16/07/2020

Content Type:

Event Reports

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CanadaChristchurch CallClimate ChangeFoundation for a Path ForwardGlobal Crises Local ImpactsMigrationSocial Cohesion

— 18 minutes reading time

Summary

On 30 – 31 May 2024, in Montreal (Canada), the Strong Cities Network, together with the Foundation for a Path Forward, convened mayors and other local elected leaders, as well as Canadian municipal practitioners, community leaders, experts in digital safety and researchers to explore the threats and challenges to social cohesion that cities in Canada are experiencing in the face of ongoing global crises and identify steps cities can take to prevent and mitigate harm to their communities.

Organised in cooperation with the Canadian Centre for Safer Communities and with support from Canadian Heritage and Public Safety Canada, the conference was part of Public Safety Canada’s 2024 ‘Megaweek’ Event Series on Countering Radicalization to Violence.

Opening Remarks

Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs, Canada, opened the conference by thanking the Strong Cities Network, Foundation for a Path Forward and their partners for convening a diverse group of Canadian city leaders and municipal practitioners remarking that the contribution of city-to-city learning opportunities to address hate and extremism cannot be understated. He highlighted the Canadian government’s commitment to investing in prevention noting the impact of this support is evident across the country and praised participants for their efforts in safeguarding Canadian communities. 

Paul Ash, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Cyber and Digital, Christchurch Call and Cyber Coordinator, New Zealand, underscored the critical role cities play in preventing radicalisation and violent extremism. He shared the mission of the Christchurch Call, a multi-actor coalition to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack by the New Zealand and French governments. Highlighting the serious threat of online harm and limited resources subnational and national governments have to address this threat, he announced the launch of the Christchurch Call Foundation. The Foundation is a product of the Call’s global impact over the last five years and seeks to support the Call’s missions through investment in new capabilities to address this evolving threat. He said he looked forward to building a partnership between the Foundation and Strong Cities, particularly given the need to elevate the voices of mayors and perspectives of cities in the Foundation’s efforts.

Alain Vaillamcourt, Deputy Mayor in charge of Public Security for the City of Montréal, presented the Montreal Model for preventing violence and promoting social cohesion. He explained how the model relies on a coordinated, multi-actor approach to address four strategic priorities: 1. Prevent and reduce insecurity; 2. build quality living environments; 3. mobilise the community and promote participation in city decision-making; and 4. highlight co-responsibility. He pointed to the Model’s collaborative approach as a key factor in successfully engaging hard to reach communities and youth. He also stressed the importance of community engagement in policy development, sharing, “We feel the increase sense of trust when community feels involved in the policy” and emphasised the impact of addressing social and economic factors that can lead to the adoption of hate and extremism can have in safeguarding communities.

Several key findings emerged from the discussions:

• Canadian cities are struggling with the local impacts of global crises, which are eroding trust in government and social cohesion. Currently, this mostly relates to Israel-Gaza; although, city leaders shared they are also grappling with the aftermath of COVID-19 and unprecedented levels of migration as a result of climate change and international conflicts.
• Cities are particularly concerned about the threat of online harms, including mis- and disinformation, hybrid ideologies that embrace violence, and ideologically motivated extremist groups’ online activity which has the potential to mobilise individuals to offline violence.
• Small cities lack sufficient funding, resources and capacity to deliver and scale prevention capabilities.
• Cities must continually create new pathways and innovative practices for community engagement and trust-building, particularly with historically marginalised or other often overlooked communities, to garner buy-in for prevention
• Local government-driven, multi-actor collaboration and community partnerships are key components to maintain social cohesion as government cannot do it alone.
• City officials need more opportunities to come together to discuss shared challenges with and practices for preventing and responding to hate, extremism and polarisation, with several city representatives sharing that this was the first time they were given a platform to discuss their role in prevention, particularly with other cities.

Threats & Key Challenges

City officials and practitioners from across Canada spoke to how the Israel-Gaza crisis is impacting social cohesion in their communities. For example, Mayor Simon Yu of Prince George (British Columbia) shared that since 7 October 2023, mis- and disinformation related to the crisis is contributing to social polarisation in his city. Gila Martow, Ward 5 Councillor of Vaughan (Ontario) shared that her city has experienced protests and email campaigns calling for local government action related to the crisis organized by non-Vaughan residents. She said that this complicates local government efforts to track public demonstrations and enact safety measures. Louis Audet Gosselin, Director of the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Montreal noted his organisation has observed a significant increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic events across Canada post 7 October which has contributed to distrust and rejection of government institutions and public safety capabilities in communities.

Looking beyond Israel-Gaza and at the long-term impacts of global crises on communities, local leaders shared that they are still grappling with the protracted effects of COVID-19 and mass migration due to climate change and war. For example, Amy Lubik, Port Moody (British Columbia) City Councillor, said that the embrace of social media for information and connection during the pandemic increased her community’s exposure to mis- and disinformation related to on-going global crises. She added that this has contributed to an uptick in fear and safety concerns within Port Moody about population change from migration. Similarly, Marc Bellerose, from the Prevention and Urban Security Division’s Hate Crimes and Incidents Unit of the City of Montreal Police Service, shared how conspiracy theories stemming from COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and now the Israel-Gaza crisis have had a direct impact on his Unit’s caseload. They have also contributed to a reduction in engagement from affected communities with Montreal’s public safety institutions, as well in diminished levels of trust in those bodies.

Participants also expressed concerns about the growth of ideologically motivated extremist communities across Canada, particularly accelerationist, White nationalist, and anti-government and anti-authority adherents. Michael King, Director of Research at the Organization for the Prevention of Violence in Edmonton (Alberta) shared that he is most concerned by online communities and groups that are mixing elements of conspiracies, White nationalism, and anti-government sentiment to develop their own ideologies. Jakob Guhl, Senior Manager of Policy and Research at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, noted there is a whole spectrum of online subcultures that are radicalising and inspiring people to embrace extreme beliefs that can lead to violence. He remarked that “this is leading to social polarisation in communities as people are being entrenched in their beliefs via algorithms.”

Finally, participants expressed gratitude to the Strong Cities Network and the Foundation for a Path Forward for hosting this convening as cities across Canada and the world are experiencing the rapid rise of hate, extremism and polarisation. Hon. Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Canadian government shared that the Canadian government has invested over 60 million dollars in violence prevention in the last six years to support participant’s work and innovations in prevention practices that is often born out of city-led action. Louis Audet Gosselin acknowledged that many cities underestimate their role in prevention emphasising the ongoing need to involve more cities in prevention. Overall, many participants shared that they felt empowered to take the good practices and lessons learned back to their cities to bolster prevention capabilities and foster social cohesion.

The Christchurch Call Foundation

• Context: The Christchurch Call was launched as a global, multi-actor coalition to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch terrorist attack by the New Zealand and French governments.
• Approach: The multi-actor coalition is comprised of 55 national governments and the European Commission, 19 online service providers, 13 partner organisations, and more than 50 civil society experts and organisations that collaborate on good policies and practice, advocate for better tech transparency, develop tools to combat online harms and promote actions that mitigate the drivers of terrorism and violent extremism.
• Impact: The Christchurch Call Foundation was launched in 2023 to support the work of the Call’s members as well as new capabilities, programs, and practices being developed in communities across the world.

“The work has been built in the community, incubated in the government and now instituted in the foundation.” – Paul Ash, PM’s Special Representative on Cyber and Digital, Christchurch Call and Cyber Coordinator, New Zealand 

Key Themes

1. Role of Local Government in Addressing Online Harms

Participants shared multiple good practices they are implementing to prevent, mitigate and respond to online harms. For example, the City of Victoria (British Columbia) has piloted an assisted care team model that features a dedicated team of social workers and mental health practitioners who responds to calls from residents seeking help for themselves or someone else. The model offers an alternative to police when someone is in crisis. Mayor Marianne Alto shared that this model has been scaled to twelve communities in Victoria and the teams have answered over 2000 calls in the last year with only five calls being escalated to law enforcement. She highlighted this type of approach is evolving throughout British Columbia and can aid in interventions for individuals on the pathway to violence.

In Montreal, the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence hosts a helpline for parents concerned with youth violence or online radicalisation that offers support resources and referrals to local service providers that will help reinforce a protection network around the at-risk individual, and further case management. The Centre also works with community-based organisations to fill language gaps to scale the call lines support to more communities. Similarly, the City of Edmonton (Alberta) is a primary funder and collaborator with the Organization for the Prevention of Violence that operates an intervention program offering psychosocial support and other services to help radicalised individuals disengage from harmful ideologies. Foundation for a Path Forward co-founder, Yusuf Siraj, and ISD Senior Researcher, Jakob Guhl, both advocated for the use of pre-bunking (i.e., pre-emptively debunking) mis- and disinformation online, and inoculation through education, strategic communications and in-person connection.

In addition to sharing city-led practices, participants also discussed challenges to address online harms, particularly in small and mid-size cities. Councillor Martow said the local government in Vaughan publicises resources for parents related to digital hygiene and online harms on the city’s social media but often receives complaints from residents that they do not like the posts. This illuminated the need for greater education and more targeted strategic communications on the threat of online harms to the community. Councillor Lubik also highlighted limitations on the capacity of city councils in small cities to enact prevention measures for online hate and extremism. She added that she will look to work with community-based organisations to address this need after learning about successful community-based partnership at the conference. Overall, the discussions highlighted how many cities, in particular small ones, lack sufficient funding, resources and capacity to mitigate threats from online harms in their communities.

Cities need to learn from and collaborate with one another recognizing that small and big cities experience the same challenges, smaller places just lack the budget to address it in the same way.

Michèle St-Amant, Research Associate, Organization for the Prevention of Violence 

2. Multi-Actor Collaboration and Community-Based Approaches

Participants recognised that one of the comparative advantages of local governments in prevention is their ability to identify, convene and coordinate relevant city departments and community-based actors for a strategic and networked response to hate and extremism. For example, Ahmed Yousef, City Councillor of Maple Ridge (Ontario) shared that his city has an active community network and local immigration partners that meet regularly with the city and works closely with the faith community to host community dialogue sessions. Mayor Yu said that, since Prince George does not have a diverse city council that represents the spectrum of the city’s 62 different community groups, the council works with community and university leaders to ensure the its efforts are informed by the needs and perspectives of all communities across the city.

City Councillor James Pasternak detailed how the City of Toronto has worked with community-based organisations to help it maintain social cohesion while welcoming newcomers to the city. He said that these organisations, by supporting newcomers with housing, education and skills training, have allowed the city to be responsive to the needs of new arrivals, needs the local government would not have been able to address on its own. Abdul Hai Patel, President of the Canadian Multifaith Federation and advisor with the Toronto police added that there are more than 11 faith and ethnicity consultant committees that inform Toronto’s community policing programs and create awareness for these programs and resources within their communities, which have bridged divides between marginalised communities and police.

The City of Ottawa (Ontario) co-chairs a coalition of over 120 community partners and organisations that is structured into different committees and programs including:

• A rapid response committee that responds to incidents and events within the community
• An advisory committee that includes the mayor, city councillors, community leaders, service providers, experts, and key city agency staff
• The United Way Back Home program that supports Ottawa’s immigration services

Abid Jan, Director Community Safety & Wellbeing for Ottawa Police, also highlighted Ottawa’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan that was informed by the coalition and adopted in 2021 to address Ottawa residents’ most pressing concerns. Importantly, the plan’s six priority areas leverage Ottawa’s robust community partnerships to address economic and social factors that can lead to hate and extremism. These include housing and economic support as well as supporting a non-law enforcement response unit to respond to mental health and substance abuse crises.

City leaders also provided tangible examples of how to create sustainable community-based partnerships to deliver specific projects to safeguard social cohesion. For example, Ottawa’s coalition was formed after the city and some community-based actors identified that many City agencies and community-based organisations shared the same strategic goals but were working in silos. In response, the City convened all relevant stakeholders for a mapping exercise to identify common goals and issues being addressed, which then led to the formations of partnerships between organisations and agencies that shared the same goals. This convening also illuminated the value of instituting a multi-actor coalition to avoid duplication of efforts and support the evolving needs of different communities within a specific city.

Launched in 2010, REACH Edmonton’s Council for Safer Communities facilitates community partnerships and engagement across that city. REACH Edmonton’s, Adele Towns, highlighted their success in mobilising funding for various community safety and wellbeing efforts by working with all levels of government, including the province and Public Safety Canada, showcasing the advantage of having a dedicated city agency that serves as interlocutor between government and the community.

Preventing Violence: The Montreal Model

• Context: Montreal relies on a coordination, multi-actor approach to prevent and reduce hate and violence.
• Approach: The model is based on four actions:
  1. Prevent and reduce insecurity
  2. Build quality living environments
  3. Mobilise the community and promote participation in city decision-making
  4. Highlight co-responsibility
• Impact: By mobilising the local government’s greatest strength, its proximity to Montreal residents, the City has been successful in engaging youth and mitigating youth violence, creating opportunities for community dialogues, and maintaining peaceful protests. The approach has also aided in increased engagement with communities across the city seeking to inform public policies which has enhanced community trust in Montreal’s government.

“We’re investing in social cohesion because cities are the laboratories to innovate on social cohesion mechanisms.” Alain Vaillancourt, Deputy Mayor, City of Montreal.

Similarly, through its Espace Egalité, the City of Strasbourg uses role-playing and simulations to broach the topic of hate and discrimination with children as young as six. The Espace serves as an education centre on discrimination, teaching visitors the 20+ characteristics that are considered protected in French law, the impacts of discrimination and the steps victims and witnesses of discrimination can take to seek justice. It also humanises the experiences of migrants and refugees by taking children through the typical journey of an asylum seeker, while also teaching children to think critically through games and puzzles that seek to raise awareness about (unconscious) biases.

3. Community Engagement and Trust-Building

City leaders and practitioners shared several practices for engaging and building trust with communities that can, among other things, contribute to the prevention of hate and extremism. For example, Mayor Yu said everyone in Prince George is welcome in his office and at city council meetings to share concerns and seek support from the local government in addressing them. He encouraged fellow mayors to take part in community events to build deeper bonds with and understanding of their communities to build trust and create a foundation for partnership remarking, “we need to go as local as the neighbourhood.” Muhsin Kermalli, Senior Advisor to the City of Brampton’s Equity Office, shared that Brampton (Ontario) holds various flag raisings with community members and staff to ensure regular engagement with different community groups. The City also created different employee resource groups that support empowerment units for historically marginalised communities. These groups receive City funding for programming to foster trust with each community.

Alain Vaillancourt, Deputy Mayor, said that the City of Montréal is working to involve youth in prevention by creating spaces where youth feel comfortable to share their experiences with City and community leaders. They are also working to involve parents in this effort to garner their trust for seeking help from the local government if they are concerned about their child or loved one. Amy Marie Siciliano, Public Safety Adviser, Halifax Regional Municipality, underscored the role social infrastructure plays in strengthening protective factors to hate and extremism and foster social cohesion in cities in Halifax. With larger cities often the only municipalities with the required resources to be able to put in place and sustain these structures, she underscored the importance of finding more ways to support social infrastructure development in small- mid-sized cities.

Nina Saini, Executive Director of StopHateAB in Calgary (Alberta) asserted that greater community engagement and trust building comes when governments partner with or pass responsibility to places and people who have the capacity, funding and programming to support community needs. This promising practice was highlighted by different local leaders who worked with local organisations to host community and inter-faith dialogue sessions to maintain social cohesion and trust amid the current Israel-Gaza crisis.

Canadian Centre for Safer Communities

• Context: CCSC brings together communities across Canada for training, research, and knowledge exchanges on community safety; it also supports members on developing community safety planning and implementation.

• Approach: City-to-city cooperation is fostered though:
  – Community of practice meetings 
  – Speaker series 
  – Information sharing on city initiatives 
  – Building Safer Communities fund
  – Internal platform for resources
• Impact: Through their engagement with communities across Canada, CCSC has identified trends in community safety planning that align with practices for preventing hate and extremism. The Centre is working to align these strategies through:
  – Community dialogues on polarising topics related to safety in communities
  – Data collection on indicators to polarisation and violence in communities
  – Including preventing and countering violent extremism interventions and other programmes in Community Safety work planning.

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Next Steps

This conference introduced multiple Canadian cities, including Brampton, Maple Ridge, Prince Geroge, Vaughan and Halifax, to the Strong Cities Network, with several expressing interest to stay involved and participate in future city-to-city learning opportunities.

Building off this conference, Foundation of a Path Forward and Strong Cities will provide tailored, evidence-based support to two Canadian cities to help them implement key findings from the discussions, including by strengthening existing or developing new frameworks or programmes to combat all forms of hate, whether on- or offline, and mitigate its real-world harms. Lessons learned from these two pilots will then be shared with other cities and communities in Canada and beyond, including via the Foundation for a Path Forward and Strong Cities, as well as relevant Canadian networks. This will help lay the foundation for a Foundation for a Path Forward-Strong Cities platform for continuous sharing and learning among Canadian cities that is integrated into and can benefit from the wider Strong Cities Network.

Further, key findings from the Montreal conference will inform upcoming activities in the Strong Cities Global Crises, Local Impact initiative, such as its ongoing monthly webinar series and the 30-31 October conference in Victoria (British Columbia), co-hosted by Mayor Marianne Alto, that will convene mayors and local leaders, city-level practitioners and community-based partners from cities in western Canada and the western United States.

Practices that were shared at the Montreal conference and captured in this event report will also be integrated into Strong Cities’ Resource Hub, a living library of guides and toolkits to on mayoral leadership and city-led action to prevent and respond to hate, extremism and polarisation.

Additional Resources

• Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiative webpage, Strong Cities Network (undated)
• Global Crises, Local Impacts: Key Findings & Recommendations to Date, Strong Cities Network (April 2024)
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• Resources for Cities: Addressing Hate & Extremism, Strong Cities Network (updated May 2024)
• Navigating Local Impacts of Global Crises: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Cities – Lessons from the Israel-Gaza Crisis, Strong Cities Network (December 2023)

Donors

Contact Information

For more information on this event, or Strong Cities’ Global Crises, Local Impacts and Transatlantic Dialogue Initiatives, please contact Allison Curtis, Deputy Executive Director, at [email protected].

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