Prince Edward Island

The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Member of Parliament for Egmont,PEI, on behalf of the Honourable Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, today highlighted the success of the crime prevention program, Girls Circle, which is making a difference for at–risk girls on PEI.

Operated by the Women’s Network PEI, Girls Circle is helping girls, aged 10 to 12, avoid involvement in criminal activities by providing support services that focus on increasing positive connections, personal strengths and competencies, as well as connecting participants to their community.

The Girls Circle program is preventative in that it builds on girls’ existing strengths and gives them solid, real–life applicable skills, which help them to build resiliency and good mental health. They have built critical thinking skills, confidence, and feel better equipped to make value–based and healthy decisions about their lives.

Quick Facts

• The Government of Canada has provided $682,823 over three years to support this important project.
• From April 2012 to March 2013, the Government funded 105 community–based crime prevention programs through Public Safety Canada’s National Crime Prevention Centre, in which more than 16,000 at–risk youth participated.
• Last fall, the Government also committed up to $10 million toward new crime prevention projects under the National Crime Prevention Strategy’s Crime Prevention Action Fund.

Quotes

“Through this project, we are offering life skills that help at–risk girls make smart choices in their lives. It is an example of our Government’s strong commitment to preventing crime and making our streets and communities’ safer places to live, work, and raise our families.”

–Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans

“Girls Circle is a wonderful program that supports our community to work with girls to address risk factors and build protective factors. Things like exposure to addictions, physical and sexual violence, mental health issues, relational bullying, etc. puts youth at risk for both victimization and criminalization.”

–Michelle MacCallum, Youth Program Manager, Women’s Network