Ottawa to Spend an Initial $37 Million on Security at Urban Transit Centres

MONTREAL (CP) – The federal government is spending an initial $37 million to beef up security at urban transit centres across the country.

Toronto and Montreal will get the lion’s share of the money, while the rest of the funding will go to Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and the Ottawa region. Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon says the money is to be used for high-priority security projects.

The money is part of the $80 million that Prime Minister Stephen Harper pledged in June to award for transit security.

The funding is meant to be used for new surveillance networks including cameras, communications and access control equipment.

Harper’s Conservative government announced $1.4 billion for security in last spring’s budget.