CBC News: Hate crimes reported to Ottawa police rise in 2022. 377 reports in 2022 compares to about 95 in 2017, 180 in 2020.
This is not an encouraging news for those committed to address hate and violence in Ottawa. Some of the key strategies to address hate crimes and the status of our progress in Ottawa are:
- Effective law enforcement: Fortunately, OPS has revived the hate crime unit, and there is full support for investigating and prosecuting hate crimes vigorously. Unfortunately, we have not seen a successful prosecution to date that could signal that such behaviour is unacceptable.
- Community engagement: Building strong relationships between law enforcement and community groups can help prevent hate crimes and increase reporting of incidents. Work is still in progress on this front. United for All Coalition has engaged internal experts to guide organizations in Ottawa to take the lead on establishing Third Party Hate Crime Reporting Centres.
- Education and Awareness: Raising awareness about the impact of hate crimes and promoting diversity and inclusion can help reduce the incidents of hate crimes. United for All and its partners are busy taking care of this piece within the limited resources at their disposal. Provincial and federal assistance will boot this work for sure.
- Support for victims: Providing resources and support for victims of hate crimes can help them recover and prevent further victimization. Several service agencies provide victims service support. However, there is no dedicated and specialised victim service support regarding hate crimes in Ottaaa.
- Encouraging bystander intervention: Condemning hate crimes when they happen and enabling individuals to speak out and take action when they witness hate crimes can help create a culture of intolerance for such behaviour. More investment in communications would lead to developing and discriminating a powerful counter-narrative and community-wide awareness.
- Advocacy for effective hate crime legislation: Strong hate crime laws convey that such behaviour will not be tolerated and can enhance penalties for those who commit hate crimes. Unfortunately, Canada lags far behind in this area among Western nations. Unfortunately, we hear a lot of talks but not concrete action in this area at the provincial or federal government level.