Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Hate crimes up 37 per cent in 2020: StatCan

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 18 Mar, 2022 10:39 AM
  • Hate crimes up 37 per cent in 2020: StatCan

OTTAWA - New data from Statistics Canada show the number of hate crimes reported to police across the country went up 37 per cent in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the previous year.

The agency says 2,669 hate crimes were reported in 2020 — the highest number since comparable data became available in 2009.

That's even as the report shows the overall rate of police-reported crime, excluding traffic offences, dropped 10 per cent from 2019 to 2020.

Statistics Canada says police-reported hate crimes targeting race or ethnicity rose 80 per cent in 2020 compared with 2019 and accounted for the bulk of the national increase.

It says reported hate crimes targeting East or Southeast Asian people went up 301 per cent; those targeting Black people went up 92 per cent; those against Indigenous people went up 152 per cent; and those against South Asian people went up 47 per cent.

The report says the highest increases in police-reported hate crimes were in Nova Scotia (70 per cent), British Columbia (60 per cent), Saskatchewan (60 per cent), Alberta (39 per cent) and Ontario (35 per cent).

No rise was reported in Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick or the Northwest Territories, but the report notes the relatively small population counts and number of hate crimes in the territories usually make year-over-year comparisons less reliable.

Both violent and non-violent hate crimes increased compared with 2019 and contributed “fairly equally” to the overall rise in hate crimes in 2020, Statistics Canada says.

Hate crimes targeting religion declined for the third year in a row following a peak in 2017, the report says. But the 515 incidents reported in 2020 are still higher than what was recorded annually before 2017, it says.

The Jewish and Muslim populations continue to be the most common targets of religion-based hate crimes, it says.

There was a two-per-cent decrease in reported hate crimes targeting sexual orientation in 2020, but the 259 incidents reported are the second highest since comparable data became available in 2009, the agency says.

Statistics Canada says the increase in hate crimes reported in 2020 may still underestimate the number of incidents, given that not all are reported to police.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 18, 2022.

MORE National ARTICLES

Ottawa protesters not donors had accounts frozen

Ottawa protesters not donors had accounts frozen
Hundreds of demonstrators blockaded roads in Ottawa for more than three weeks last month, and similar demonstrations blocked four major border crossings in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

Ottawa protesters not donors had accounts frozen

B.C. pledges $18.4 million to Lytton recovery work

B.C. pledges $18.4 million to Lytton recovery work
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth says $18.4 million will cover much of the costs of debris removal, archeological work and soil remediation for municipal, uninsured and underinsured properties in Lytton.

B.C. pledges $18.4 million to Lytton recovery work

B.C. has no plans to cut gas taxes, Farnworth

B.C. has no plans to cut gas taxes, Farnworth
Alberta has responded by reducing its tax by 13-cents per litre on both gasoline and diesel. Farnworth says there's no simple solution to the rising fuel price situation as the cost rose above $2 a litre in Metro Vancouver.    

B.C. has no plans to cut gas taxes, Farnworth

Group opposes forced health transfers in B.C.

Group opposes forced health transfers in B.C.
Dying With Dignity says the service is being restricted because of an agreement that allows facilities covered by the Denominational Health Association to collect taxpayer dollars but refuse to perform services they oppose on religious or moral grounds. 

Group opposes forced health transfers in B.C.

Surrey's Vaisakhi parade cancelled third year in a row due to COVID19 concerns

Surrey's Vaisakhi parade cancelled third year in a row due to COVID19 concerns
The magnitude and planning of this event takes a full year to complete and given the tight turnaround between the constantly changing public health order restrictions being lifted and the scheduled date of the parade, organizers did not feel they could responsibly honour the importance and magnitude of the event in this timeline.    

Surrey's Vaisakhi parade cancelled third year in a row due to COVID19 concerns

Not all fleeing Ukraine offered Canadian haven

Not all fleeing Ukraine offered Canadian haven
The Canadian government is allowing Ukrainians who have fled Russian aggression to come to Canada temporarily for a period of two years "for those who need a safe haven while the war ravages their homeland," Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced last week.

Not all fleeing Ukraine offered Canadian haven