Police-reported hate crimes up 21% in B.C. during 2nd year of pandemic
Police-reported hate crimes up 21% in B.C. during 2nd year of pandemic
Race remains the main motivator for hate incidents, but crimes targeting religion are also up
Data released by Statistics Canada shows that hate crimes are on the rise. Experts say increasing societal divisions are part of the problem.
Hate crimes as reported by police forces in B.C.’s metropolitan areas are up for the second straight year of the pandemic, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada released Tuesday.
Vancouver, Victoria, Abbotsford-Mission and Kelowna — the four municipalities in B.C. the federal agency chooses to represent in its data — saw an overall 21 per cent increase in police-reported hate crimes in 2021 (from 421 to 509 incidents), following a 58 per cent jump in 2020.
The agency says the pandemic has exacerbated discrimination across Canada, from 2,646 reported incidents in 2020 to 3,360 in 2021, an increase of 27 per cent following a 36 per cent increase in 2020.