$8.4 MILLION ANNOUNCED FOR B.C. CRIME PREVENTION PROJECTS

Canada's solicitor general Wayne Easter's years as a P.E.I. farmer likely
never prepared him for the type of grow operations he experienced in Surrey
Wednesday.

Easter also got to see first-hand the seedy side of Vancouver with a trip
down East Hastings.

In Surrey, he met frustrated RCMP officers barely making a dent in the
multi-million dollar marijuana industry, and on East Hastings, he saw
down-and-out people looking for handouts and a hand up.

"It's really sad what you see happening on the street," Easter said of the
poverty and despair on East Hastings. "One day those people on the streets
were no different than you and I. But people make mistakes."

Easter recalled his days as a P.E.I. farmer and his brush with creditors
and the possibility of losing what he had worked so hard for.

"I know what it's like to face the ravages of a bank system," Easter said.
"You have to take these experiences and move ahead."

On Thursday, Easter, along with Rich Coleman, minister of public safety and
solicitor general of B.C., announced $8.4 million for 198 crime prevention
projects for B.C. communities. The money will come from the federal
government's National Crime Prevention Strategy.

The two ministers made the announcement at a Youth Information Fair at
Banting Middle School in Coquitlam.

The Banting Middle School Parent Advisory Council received $49,400 from the
government to help fund its Kateslem-Burquitlam Aboriginal Youth program.

"We're here today to celebrate Canada's youth," Easter said. "Your
involvement in programs like this will lead us, I hope, to a safer society."

Easter pointed at a native healing circle on the gymnasium wall to make his
point about striking a proper balance in one's spiritual, physical,
emotional and mental life.

"That's what it's all about, finding the proper balance in life. So at the
end of the day, an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure," he said.

In Surrey, Easter met front-line police officers frustrated by the lack of
teeth the judicial system has in prosecuting people arrested in connection
with grow operations and other drug-related activities.

"The judicial system will have to see how serious these grow operations are
and the serious crime surrounding them," Easter said. "This matter is very
serious and the public and the people I've talked to feel these people need
to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Some of the other projects benefiting from the National Crime Prevention
Strategy include:

* $200,000 for the What Works in Youth Literacy project, sponsored by B.C.
Literacy;

* $34,000 to Covenant House Vancouver for its Downtown Street Voice project;

* $50,000 to the Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach project, sponsored by
Children's Arts Umbrella; and

* $109,630 to the Addictive Drug Information Council for its National
Integrated Training on Chemical Drugs program.

"This investment reflects the excellent partnerships between the people of
British Columbia, the Government of Canada and the province, and proves our
ability to work together to build healthier and safer communities," Easter
said.

Coleman said the money will help communities and community programs focus
on crime and crime prevention.

"We've learned that one of the best ways to prevent crime and victimization
is to get people working together to create effective solutions," Coleman
said. "Through the diversity and creativity of these projects, British
Columbians are helping to keep schools and streets safer."

Banting's Youth Information Fair showcases more than a dozen successful
crime prevention projects, including the Burquitlam Youth Project.

"By bringing these projects together, we are sharing ideas and learning
from each other's best practices," said Steve Rogers, Banting Middle
School's principal.

Several members of the youth groups gave personal testimonials and musical
or dramatic performances to showcase the success of some of the programs.

The federal government's National Crime Prevention Strategy was launched in
1998 and has supported 3,000 projects in more than 740 communities across
Canada.