12, Dec 2018

Hate crimes in Canada rose by 47% in 2017, according to data from Canadian statistical agency Statistics Canada, Reuters recently reported. The largest increase was in crimes against Muslims; these incidents increased by more than 100%, going from 139 to 349. Crimes against Black people rose by 50%, going from 214 to 321. Crimes targeting Jewish people also increased, going from 221 to 360. The United States, Canada’s immediate neighbour, also saw a similar trend; in 2017, the incidence of hate crimes increased for the third straight year, per the FBI. According to Amira Elghawaby, who serves on the board of the Anti-Hate Network, Canada does not remain unaffected to rhetoric from the US, Reuters said. “It’s a porous border – not just for people and goods but for ideas,” Elghawaby noted. The data published covered crimes that were reported to the police and were “determined to be motivated by hatred toward an identifiable group,” Reuters stated. Statistics Canada said that per victimisation surveys, two-thirds of such crimes are not reported.