Ottawa kicks in $100K to study plans for cyber-crime centre

CALGARY (CP) - Ottawa will help fund a study that will look at the feasibility of building an international cyber-crime fighting centre in Canada to combat rising criminal activity on the Internet. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the federal government will contribute $100,000 toward the study that will consider the cost of such a centre and where it would be located.

He also said the study will examine "other possible gaps that exist right now" between levels of government, crime-fighters and the criminals and terrorists they seek.

"We want to see that closed, we want to see good collaboration," Day said in Calgary Saturday.

Current plans for the centre, called Cyberpol, are championed by the Canadian Association of Police Boards.

The centre would focus on a variety of growing Internet-based crimes including child exploitation, pornography, identity theft, stock market manipulation and credit card scams.

Ian Wilms, chairman of the police board association, said the City of Calgary will contribute the rest of the cash required for the $300,000 study. It should take nine months to complete.

Wilms, who is also chairman of the Calgary Police Commission, said law enforcement across Canada is already battling criminals on the Internet but they lack centralized and dedicated resources.

"It's being fought everywhere of course, but not with the resources it requires and that's why we're doing this study," Wilms said at the association of police board's annual meeting.

"Law enforcement hasn't caught up to the criminal world. This ship has changed direction so quickly and we're so used to fighting it in the physical world, that we're playing catch-up right now."

Wilms said the Cyberpol building could be built within four years. Direct access to a major Canadian university that has supercomputing capacity will be key.

And while Calgary and the University of Calgary's interest in the project puts the Alberta city high on the list for possible locations, Wilms said the study will examine the issue of building in one of Canada's most overheated construction markets.

The police board's association hopes a Canadian-based cyber-crime fighting centre will also attract resources and law enforcement personnel from around the world.

The Canadian Press, 2007