The federal government says it has a plan to fight divisiveness and hate, which it says are on the rise in Canada.
On Tuesday, federal Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Persons with Disabilities Kamal Khera unveiled 'Canada's Action Plan on Combatting Hate.'
"Canada's first-ever Action Plan on Combatting Hate represents an unprecedented cross-government effort to combat hate while providing more support to victims of hate and at-risk communities," Khera said.
"Everyone has the right to feel safe, regardless of who they are, what they look like or what they believe in. We have all been alarmed to witness the tragic consequences of hate, both at home and abroad," she added. "Hate has no place in Canada – whether in person or online, in our schools, or in our places of worship."
The Action Plan includes an investment of $273.6 million over six years, which will be added to an ongoing $29.3 million effort. It also combines initiatives from Canadian Heritage, Public Safety Canada, Justice Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Women and Gender Equality Canada, Statistics Canada, and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
The combined plan focuses on three main pillars:
Empowering communities to identify and prevent hate
Supporting victims and survivors, and protect communities
Building community trust, partnerships and institutional readiness
According to the government, the rise in hate incidents has disproportionately affected Indigenous Peoples, Black and other racialized communities, religious minorities, 2SLGBTQI+ communities, women, and people with disabilities.
Statistics Canada said 4,777 hate-related crimes were reported to the authorities in 2023, a 32 per cent rise from the year before. The agency revealed that the number of police-reported hate crimes has more than doubled since 2019, adding that the numbers are expected to be much higher as some victims might not report a hate crime that they have experienced.
It's believed that only one-in-five incidents are reported to police.
The data shows that hate crimes targeting religion and sexual orientation accounted for most of the increase in 2023. With 1,284 and 860 incidents reported to police across the country, respectively.
Hate crimes involving race were up 6 per cent in 2023.
The violations typically associated with reported hate crimes include public incitement of hatred, uttering threats, mischief, and assaults.
Bill C-63, which addresses hateful online content is also a part of the government's Action Plan.
"We know that online harms can have real world impacts with tragic and sometimes fatal consequences," said Arif Virani, the Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice. "This legislation is about keeping everyone safer in an online world that can feel more dangerous and unfortunately more toxic each and every day so that women, racialized persons, 2SLGBTQI+ people, and people of diverse faiths and backgrounds can go to their places of worship, community centres, schools or work without fearing that online threats might turn into real world danger."