BSDI Engagement, Outreach and Research
The Government of Canada engages the public, academics, civil society organizations and other stakeholders through symposiums and webinars. In addition, research on bias sensitivity, diversity and identity in national security has also been funded.
Engagement and Outreach
Expert Symposiums
Expert Symposiums bring together members from government, civil society organizations and academia to discuss a variety of topics.
Over 100 participants attended the First Annual Public Safety Expert Symposium, “Addressing Unconscious Bias, Diversity and Inclusion” on March 4, 2020 in Ottawa.
The 23 speakers, panelists, and moderators came from a variety of backgrounds and sectors. Each brought their unique expertise to discussions related to bias, diversity and inclusion in the field of national security.
In addition to two keynote speakers, the four main discussions included:
- Women in Terrorism and Counter-terrorism;
- Unpacking the “Plus” in National Security;
- Technologies and their use in National Security; and
- Profiling, Surveillance, Intelligence and Unconscious Bias.
Read the full report from the 2020 Symposium here.
Webinars
Expert webinars provide an opportunity for federal partners in national security to focus on a specific topic with academics and civil society members. Webinars also enhance conversations held at Expert Symposiums.
A webinar on Women in Terrorism and Counterterrorism with Dr. Joana Cook was held on July 15, 2020. Dr. Cook highlighted her research into the roles of women in terrorism and counterterrorism and the factors that impacted them.
Read the full report on Dr. Cook’s session.
Open Government Partnership: 6th Global Summit
In support of the National Security Transparency Commitment, security experts participated in the Open Government Partnership 2019 Global Summit. In “Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) and Diversity in National Security: Can We Ever Be “Bias-Free”?” panelists discussed how intersectionality could be applied to government initiatives and approaches to addressing bias.
- Read the report summarizing this session, and the other national security sessions.
- The full panel discussion is available for viewing on the OGP Global Summit webpage. Please scroll down to last paragraph to access a link to a DropBox containing recordings of the sessions and plenaries. Click “Other Sessions” – “01 Thursday” – “215”. Select the third video in the folder (recording available in English only).
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Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence 2019 Event Series
The Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence (Canada Centre) 2019 Event Series was held in March 2020. It included an all-day symposium on Best Practices for Integrating Gender into Countering Violent Extremism Efforts.
The event brought together international experts and practitioners to share experiences of integrating gender-sensitive and bias-sensitive approaches into efforts to counter radicalization to violence. Topics during the event included the role of media, insights from frontline prevention and response, women and terrorism, and insights from peacebuilding.
Moonshot CVE, as the session leader, has produced a summary report of international and Canadian best practices for integrating gender into countering violent extremism (CVE) programs (External reference. English only).
Youth Summit
On October 16, 2019, the Canada Centre hosted a National Youth Summit on Countering Violent Extremist Use of the Internet in collaboration with Encounters with Canada, Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter. The event brought together government and technology company representatives, civil society members and diverse youth from across the country in order to:
- share perspectives on violent extremist use of the internet;
- equip youth with skills to push back against violent extremist content; and
- seek views on how all parties can collaborate in this space.
Research
The Government of Canada funds, plans and coordinates research relating to bias sensitivity, diversity and identity in national security. Research was formerly funded by the Kanishka Project, a project focused on better understanding what terrorism means in the Canadian context. The Canada Centre has since stewarded action-oriented research funded by the Community Resilience Fund, launched in December 2016.
This research includes, but is not limited to:
- Different Cities, Shared Stories: Voices from Europe and Canada on Gender and Violent Extremism and Women's Roles in Countering It (2016)
- ‘Till Martyrdom Do Us Part’: Gender and the ISIS Phenomenon (2015)
- (Mis)Understanding Muslim Converts in Canada: A Critical Discussion of Muslim Converts in the Contexts of Security and Society (2014)
- Cultural competence and Canada’s security: Can being culturally competent assist police and security officers in ensuring Canada’s security? (2014)
- Collective Efficacy and Cultural Capital: Building and Fostering Resilience in Different Ethnic Communities (2014)
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