United Way East Ontario and the UFA Coalition issued the following statement today.
United For All partners are deeply disturbed by the highest increase in harassment and intimidation of the Asian community since the start of the pandemic, as shown in a recent Ottawa Police Services report.
The partner organizations recognize the pain and harm that is caused by the increased intolerance and hate-motivated acts against the Asian community.
United For All calls for a strengthening of enforcement and increased efforts to prosecute offenders. Governments should ensure that those responsible for hate crimes are held accountable under the law, that the enforcement of hate crime laws is a priority for the criminal justice system. The record of their enforcement must be well documented and widely publicized.
The Coalition is constantly monitoring hate crime statistics in the city with the help of the Ottawa Police Hate Crime Unit. The data informs our action planning to counter hate, reduce fear and assist victims, advance police-community relations, encourage improved reporting of hate crimes to the police and help improve the quality of data collection by law enforcement bodies.
Hate, bias and violence should be seen not only as an attack on a targeted individual, but on the community’s health and wellbeing. Hate tears society along racial, ethnic, gender, and religious lines.
Racist and xenophobic actions targeting the Asian community in Ottawa sow seeds of hatred in our communities. That’s not who we are, that’s not what Ottawans stand for, and we have no intention of moving backwards.
People committing these crimes and peddling hate in Ottawa will never define this vibrant community.
Dr. Xiaobei Chen
Professor of Sociology, Carleton University
Michael Allen
President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way East Ontario
About United For All
United For All is comprised of a growing partnership of organizations in the Ottawa region that have come together to address the issues of hate-based violence and extremism in Ottawa. The group has a table of champions representing the leadership of our city, as well as member organizations that represent the diversity of our community. In this first year, the coalition will build a city-wide approach to tackling hate and violence with the goal of securing public and private funding to bolster its work. United For All has a long-term goal to build social resilience, to support education, advocacy, research, and ultimately, to overcome hate, bigotry and racism in Ottawa.
For more information on United For All visit unitedforall.ca. and UWEO webisite: https://www.unitedwayeo.ca/news-and-stories/united-for-all-anti-asian-hate-crimes/