THUNDER BAY — After falling to the third position in 2016, Thunder Bay once again led the country in 2017 in the rate of reported hate crimes among major population centres.
Data from Statistics Canada shows that 21 hate-motivated incidents were reported to police in the Thunder Bay Census Metropolitan Area in 2017, for a rate of 17.4 incidents per 100,000.
That is twice the rate that was documented in 2016, but not as bad as 2015 when Thunder Bay area's hate crime rate of 22.3 per 100,000 was also the worst among all CMAs.
The rate for al CMAs in 2017 averaged only 6.9 incidents per 100,000.
Thunder Bay Police, in recent years, have worked to encourage individuals and groups to report hate-motivated incidents to them.
The Thunder Bay Hate Crimes Awareness Committee was formed in 2013 as a grassroots response from citizens concerned about the issue.
TBPS has designated an officer to monitor the problem, and has said it is "enhancing officers' investigating and reporting capacity to identify hate crimes and incidents.".
Across Canada, it's estimated that only one out of every 10 incidents is reported to police.
In a statement last year, TBPS said "We strongly encourage anyone who feels that they have been the victim of this type of crime to come forward. We will do everything we can to support victims of crimes which are hate-motivated."
Thunder Bay Police have published information defining hate crimes on their website:
A criminal offence committed against a person or property, that is perceived to be motivated and/or is motivated, in whole or in part by the suspect’s hate, bias or prejudice based on real or perceived race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or any other similar factor.
Criminal in Nature: Hate or Racism motivated crimes linked to actual criminal conduct e.g. assault, mischief or threats. Hate motivated crimes will require something said or inferred through words, gestures or actions. Hate related information provided through victims and witnesses at trial will be considered by Judge at time of sentencing.
Not Criminal in Nature: Statements describing racist comments, tones or bias toward a visible minority or Indigenous person. They may be based upon hate or are hate-motivated but are not a crime; services refused or negative general attitude toward others; the receiver of the service is made to feel poorly.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story referred to hate crime data for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. The data is actually for the years 2015, 2016, and 2017, and the story has been corrected to reflect this.
