Abid Jan

Calgary sees jump in hate-motivated crimes with 346 reported to police in 2021

Calgary is not alone in seeing a jump in hate crimes. Interestingly, however, in August 2021, Alberta Hate Crime Committee issued a report recommending incorporating a standalone hate crime section into the criminal code of Canada. We must collectively put our weight behind this proposal because we know that preventing hate crimes requires a multi-pronged approach. However, criminal law is the most critical element that can help both in the prevention and law enforcement spheres.

The problem is that responding to and managing hate crimes is persistently impeded because no standard definition exists for stakeholders trying to address hate crimes in Canada. The existing definitions contain various characterizations, and in some jurisdictions, no definition is used at all – leaving researchers, academics, government, and police to identify, define and interpret it unilaterally and independently.

In most cases, police efforts are limited to letting victims and potential victims understand what is NOT a hate crime in Canada.

This lack of standardization elicits confusion and frustration from the community and subsequent inertia in policy development and response by government and front-line organisations committed to preventing hate.

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