Ontario sees dramatic increase in hate crime during 2017

By Jeff Slack

Hate crimes in Canada have reached an all-time high, according to a new study conducted by Statistics Canada.

The agency said Ontario saw a shocking increase of 207 per cent in hate crimes towards Muslims, 84 per cent towards black people and 41 per cent against Jewish people in 2017.

According to Amira Elghawaby, Canadian Anti-Hate Network Board Member, there are two factors that are the main divers for the increase.

“Certainly, everyone is talking about the impact of the rhetoric down south,” said Elghawaby. “We know that since even during the election of President Donald Trump, and subsequently as president, a lot of the rhetoric has that he has been spouting against immigrants, Muslims, Mexicans have led there to an up turn in hate crimes.

Elghawaby added, “Here in Canada, there is a rise in the far right, sort of, extremist groups. Online we see a lot of anti-immigrant, anti-emetic, Islamophobic, you name it.”

In the study, StatsCan says the overall increase is due to more people reporting incidents, although it's still likely that many are going unreported.

The agency also says hate crimes have been on the rise since 2014, but the biggest increase was felt in 2017 where it jumped 47 per cent over the previous year.

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