Canada offers $3.3M to effort to fight cybercrime in central America, Caribbean

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Canada is contributing $3.3 million to support measures to combat cybercrime in central America and the Caribbean.

Foreign Affairs Minister Rob Nicholson made the announcement today at an international Internet security conference in the Netherlands.

Nicholson says $2.8 million will go towards a joint project with Interpol to strengthen the region’s Internet infrastructure, while the rest will go towards a United Nations effort to combat Internet crimes against children.

He says the goal is to ensure the Internet remains a safe and reliable place to conduct business and interact with people around the world.

Nicholson also met with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, at the conference, where the two discussed Ukraine’s current political and security challenges.

Canada is sending at least 200 members of the Canadian Forces to Ukraine to take part in a two-year deployment, part of a U.S.-led military training mission to improve the combat skills of troops there.