Peterborough police have responded to a recent Statistics Canada report that the Peterborough area had the highest rate per capita of police-reported hate crime in Canada in 2020.
Released last Thursday (March 17), Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2020 states there were 19.4 hate crimes per 100,000 population in the Peterborough census metropolitan area (CMA) — an increase of 126 per cent over the number of hate crimes reported for the Peterborough CMA in 2019 and far exceeding the Canadian average of seven. The next highest rates in 2020 were in Ottawa (16.6), Guelph (15.1), Vancouver (13.8), and Thunder Bay (11.1).
While Canada’s Criminal Code contains sections that relate to hate speech — including the offence of “advocating genocide” against a group, the “public incitement of hatred,” and the “wilful promotion of hatred — there’s no actual definition of a “hate crime”. That’s why police prefer to use the phrases “hate-motivated” or “bias-motivated” when referring to such crimes — where a crime such as assault or mischief has been committed with evidence of hatred or bias toward the victim.
In a media release on Monday, Peterborough police reviewed their hate-motivated or bias-motivated crime statistics for 2019 to 2021 for the area they serve, which includes the City of Peterborough, the Village of Lakefield, and Cavan-Monaghan Tonwship. This is only a portion of the Peterborough CMA, which also includes all of Selwyn Township, Douro-Dummer Township, Otonabee-South Monaghan Township, and Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations. Peterborough County OPP and First Nations police services serve the remainder of the Peterborough CMA.
In 2020, Peterborough police investigated 36 incidents, determining 24 of the incidents were a crime with six charges laid as a result. Of the 36 incidents, 19 remain unsolved. This compares to 22 such incidents in 2019 (10 determined a crime with two charges laid and 10 incidents remaining unsolved) and 31 such incidents in 2021 (18 determined a crime with four charges laid and 16 incidents remaining unsolved).
“Peterborough police are both disappointed and appreciative of the statistics,” said Tim Farquharson, acting chief of the Peterborough Police Service. “Disappointed that reports of such incidents continue to have to be made and appreciative that people continue to come forward about their experiences.”
As for why Peterborough police did not lay charges in all incidents, Farquharson said “Investigations into hate-motivated or bias-motivated crimes are extremely complex and are not taken lightly.”
“It’s important for the public to know that, in order to lay charges in crimes of this nature, a criminal offence must have occurred or the victim’s race, nationality, ethnicity, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation must be deemed to have motivated the crime, which is what makes it so complex.”
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian police reported 2,669 criminal incidents in 2020 that were motivated by hate — the largest number recorded since comparable data became available in 2009 and an increase of 37 per cent over 2019.
Hate targeting the Black and Jewish populations remained the most common types reported by police across Canada, representing 26 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. These were followed by hate crimes targeting the East or Southeast Asian population (11 per cent) and those targeting a sexual orientation (10 per cent).
According to Farquharson, the Peterborough police statistics do not appear to show the targeting of one specific group.
“That said, we do see some increases in these types of incidents as it relates to national and/or international situations,” he added. “Ultimately, there should be no room for hate in our community, and we hope to see these numbers go down.”
VIDEO: Tim Farquharson, Acting Chief, Peterborough Police Service
“Several years ago, Peterborough police created the Stop H8 Crime campaign to inform the public,” Farquharson said. “This information continues to be relevant, and we encourage people to pass this message along to their networks and to know that it’s important to report hate incidents and hate crimes.”
“Part of the continued commitment by Peterborough police is to look at ways to make reporting hate incidents and hate crimes easier as well as ongoing training into diversity, equity, and inclusion for all members of the service.”
