Premier Doug Ford announced new funding this morning for police services to fight crime in the areas of human trafficking, gun and gang violence, and sexual assault.
Ford was at Blue Mountain Village at 10:30 a.m. where he delivered the announcement at the OPP Association annual general meeting.
The funding amounts to $6 million over three years, and will be available in the form of grants for police services. The grant program will use assets forfeited by the provincial and federal governments during criminal prosecutions.
Ford said the government is taking away money being used by crime and reinvesting the money into frontline crime prevention.
According to a press release issued by Ford’s office, police services across the province, including municipal, provincial and First Nations, are eligible to apply for funding under the Proceeds of Crime — Front-Line Policing (POC-FLP) Grant.
Today’s announcement at Blue Mountain was not open to media, but it was live-streamed on the Premier’s YouTube channel.
During his announcement, Ford said the more he hears about crimes of human trafficking, the angrier he gets.
“I have four beautiful daughters, and I can tell you I would do anything in my power to keep them safe,” said Ford. “I’d put these guys away for life. As a matter of fact, I’d probably do a lot more.”
To start his speech, Ford congratulated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on his win in last night’s federal election, and Ford said he would be speaking to the federal government soon about reforms for the judicial system and bail process.
“Men and women are out there working hard, arresting the bad guys, and the next day they’re out there laughing at us,” said Ford. “Hopefully the federal government will have a change of heart when it comes to judicial reform.”
Sylvia Jones, solicitor general, was also at the Blue Mountain announcement.
In the press release from Ford’s office, she said public safety is a top priority for the Ontario government.
"Any time we have the opportunity as a society to right a wrong we should seize it, and with this grant program, that's exactly what we are doing,” she said in the release.
Successful applicants to the grant will be announced in the spring of 2020, and, according to the news release, police services applying for funding will be required to partner with at least two community organizations from different sectors to “encourage multi-sectoral collaboration.
