TORONTO, Ont. – Toronto mayor Rob Ford announced that the provincial funding for the Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy will continue after initially being set to run out next year.

TAVIS combines anti-violence and anti-gang measures with community engagement in an effort to reduce crime.

Ford said the funding is a “huge victory” for Toronto taxpayers. The decision was a result of a meeting among Ford, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and others.

There is no word on if more police officers will be hired or allocated to the east end of the city, which is more prone to gun violence. Toronto police are currently under a hiring freeze directed by Ford’s office.

Ahead of the meeting, Margaret Parsons of the African-Canadian Legal Clinic said the community doesn’t want “cool-down money” that won’t have a lasting impact on the problem.

“We don’t want stop gap measures,” Parsons said. “We want long-term approaches to dealing with youth violence and youth crime that have proven to work.”

The meeting was called following last week’s mass shooting at a community barbecue in Scarborough that left two dead and 23 wounded.

Ontario’s Attorney General John Gerretsen, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Madeleine Meilleur and Minister of Children and Youth Services Eric Hoskins also attended the meeting.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be in Toronto Tuesday to meet with Ford.