Reports of hate crimes are on the rise in Ottawa area, police say

Hate crime charges against two Ottawa high school students are part of a growing trend, newly released figures suggest, and advocates are concerned that young people are becoming common targets.

Andrea Freedman, president of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, said the alleged use of Nazi symbols by students at Sir Robert Borden High School last month is an example of the problem.

She’s been in regular contact with police since their investigation began into the Dec. 1 incident and has sounded an alarm in recent weeks over a rise in antisemitism in schools.

Ottawa police say they received 377 reports of alleged hate crimes in 2022, 13 per cent more than the year before. Freedman said it’s likely a small fraction of what is really happening.

“People reach their limits of how much hate they’re willing to tolerate,” she said. “But many people don’t report after the first incident. It takes multiple times before they take that action.”

Fatema Abdalla, a spokeswoman for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said she has heard anecdotally that there has been a rise in Islamophobia in the community as well.

But she said there are still many people who hesitate to report these incidents to police.

One reason for that, she said, is because of a gap in understanding — what a person of colour considers to be a hate crime may not result in hate-related charges from police.

“It’s more so of ensuring that when incidents are reported as an incident of hate, then it is considered and factorized in all angles, so that the hate-motivated crime does not get overshadowed,” said Abdalla.

The 377 reports last year led to 174 criminal charges being laid against 51 people. Only five included formal hate crime charges.

Sgt. Ali Toghrol is head of the Ottawa Police Service’s hate crimes unit, which has been tracking the data since it was created in 2020.

Toghrol said his unit is working to educate other Ottawa police officers to identify hate incidents when they are reported. The unit also aims to forge relationships within the community to rebuild trust, since many people who are targeted by hate crimes do not “have a very high regard for police,” he said.

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Ottawa police is working to create a third-party reporting system so that a social services provider or community advocate can report an incident on another person’s behalf.

But advocates caution that won’t solve the underlying problem.

Robin Browne is a co-ordinator at 613-819 Black Hub, a volunteer organization that works to address anti-Black racism in Ottawa and Gatineau. He said the rise in hate crime reports reflects the fact that people from other communities, including the Jewish community, are making reports.

“The whole focus on hate is a bit problematic, because what it doesn’t do is it doesn’t include systemic anti-Black racism, including that done by the police,” said Browne.

He said reimagining well-being and safety in Ottawa requires police to take their lead from the community.