While the rest of Canada saw a decrease in hate crimes over 2018, B.C. only got worse.
Hate crimes fell by 24% across the country, compared to B.C., where the number climbed significantly. This is according to a new Statistics Canada report.
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The number of crimes committed against LGBTQ+ people rose by 78% from 2017. While there were 18 reported incidents the year before, 2018 saw 32 incidents. That number had dropped by 18% country-wide, from 204 cases in 2017 to 173 in 2018.
Incidents based on race rose by 11%, from 116 to 122 in 2018. It fell by 11% across Canada from 878 to 780.
“Hate crimes targeting the Black population accounted for 16% of all hate crimes in Canada and remained the most common type of hate crime targeting a race or ethnicity,” Statistics Canada said.
Across Canada, violent hate crimes accounted for 43% of 2018 hate crimes, states the report. Of the crimes against LGBTQ+ 62% were violent, while 53% of crimes regarding race were violent.
B.C. did, however, have a drop in crimes based on religion, by 33% from 103 to 69 in 2018. Hate crimes based on religion dropped by 24% in Canada overall.
Regardless of the drop Canada-wide, the numbers still point to a big problem.
“Despite the decline, police-reported hate crimes had been increasing since 2014 and the number reported in 2018 was the second highest since 2009,” Statistics Canada said.
The number of racist incidents have certainly risen in Vancouver, especially due to Coronavirus fears.
For more stories in Vancouver, check out our News section.
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