An ‘assault-plus’: MP, Senator urge action amid rise in hate crimes predating pandemic

Police-reported hate crime rose by seven per cent in 2019, with a 10 per cent rise in attacks based on ethnicity. Statistics Canada says this pre-pandemic data will mark a ‘key reference’ for 2020 and the impact of COVID-19 on such abuse.

NDP MP Jenny Kwan, left, and Independent Senator Mobina Jaffer, right, say Ottawa should act on a motion that earned unanimous support in the House to create and properly fund dedicated hate crime units in every community in Canada. The Hill Times photographs by Sam Garcia, Andrew Meade

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BY SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

April 1, 2021

A British Columbia MP and a Senator are calling on Ottawa to send a “strong message” to ensure hate crimes are properly tracked, investigated, and prosecuted in the wake of a seven per cent rise in these crimes reported to police, and early data suggesting this is...

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