The Challenges with Reporting and Convicting Hate Crimes

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[Music]
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from vandalism to violence hate crimes
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happen in many different ways and
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between 2020 and 2021 there was a
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noticeable spike let’s look at the
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numbers 210 hate crimes were reported in
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toronto in 2020
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the following year that jumped to 257.
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in 2020 there were 50 hate crime
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assaults in 2021 86 the number of
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victims who were targeted for their
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faith or background went from 17 to 57.
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surprise no disappoint yes the scope of
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the police data is in the first year of
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the pandemic a time when anti-asian hate
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was rampant then the police report that
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it seemed that asian canadians are the
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most likely to face us physical assaults
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we see a lot of
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you know coughing is spinning on
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so really it does seem that there is a
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lot tied with coveted related racism
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still the chinese-canadian national
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council for social justice suggests the
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numbers are actually higher that 22
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increase in hate crimes they’d say is
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closer to 50. we are actually also being
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faced with the issue of under reporting
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and reporting hate crimes is one thing
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achieving a hate crime conviction is
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even more challenging so typically as
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this toronto attorney explains hate is
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addressed at sentencing as an
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aggravating factor look at the act right
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the act is assaults the act is um you
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know it could be attempted murder
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and prosecute for that actual act and
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once the person is found guilty beyond
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the reasonable doubt then at sentencing
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you could say well this is the penalty
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and we would like an extended penalty or
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the most severe penalty because we
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believe you know looking at the
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circumstances it was motivated by hate
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over the last year we’ve seen nooses at
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construction sites anti-semitic
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vandalism mosques being targeted and
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people being spit on if these go to
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court the burden of proof is still on
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the victim and the crown to prove that
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it was hate motivated tanya walker says
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that should change that’s something to
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consider in the future is that it’s
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really difficult to to prosecute um and
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maybe there should be what i call a
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reverse onus which is based on the
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accused to demonstrate why it wasn’t
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hate as opposed to
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the responsibility of the crown to prove
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beyond the reasonable doubt that it was
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the latest hate crime data will be
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presented and solutions discussed at the
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toronto police board meeting next week
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ali chiasson cbc news toronto