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THE TRUTH ABOUT HATE CRIMES

Homosexual activists argue that they need special protection because they experience extensive discrimination and are subject to hate crimes, unlike other groups in Canadian society.

Since Toronto has the largest homosexual/lesbian community in Canada, it is instructive to review the statistics from the Intelligence Services Hate Crime Unit of the Metropolitan Toronto Police to determine whether this is, in fact, a valid argument.

The Toronto Hate Crime Unit was established in 1993, to deal with criminal offences, whether assault, harassment, arson, threats, mischief, etc., that are believed to be motivated by hate. The crime of propagating hate, however, is another quite separate and distinct offence set out in a specific section (S.318 of the Criminal Code) and does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Hate Crime Unit.

Among the Hate Crime Unit's responsibilities is that of compiling statistics on hate-motivated offences to determine trends and patterns of such offences. In this regard, it is significant that all police officers in Toronto are instructed to err on the side of caution and forward all suspected hate-motivated crimes for investigation and review by the Hate Crime Unit.

In its 1997 Report, the Hate Crime Unit reported a total of 187 hate-motivated occurrences in the Toronto area, of which sixteen (16) were based on sexual orientation.

There were no offences of "harassment" against homosexuals in 1997. Further, of the total 187 hate-motivated offenses that occurred in 1997, only 11 ended with a conviction at the time the figures were compiled. The remainder of the offences were still being processed through the courts.

It is significant that the majority of hate-motivated offences were based on race (97), followed by religion (34), [the majority of which were anti-Semitic (28)].

The yearly comparison of offences motivated by hate on the most prevalent issues in the Toronto area since the Hate Crime Unit was established in 1993 is as follows:

Yearly Comparison by Bias Category

In summary, 83 hate-motivated offences have been reported based on sexual orientation between 1993 and 1997, as compared to 594 based on race, and 228 based on religion.

The homosexual newspaper, Xtra, however, claims in its March 23, 2000 issue, that the number of hate-motivated crimes in Toronto based on sexual orientation shot up dramatically in 1999, to 44 such incidents. (The homosexual community seems to have access to information not available to others.) The article goes on to explain, however, that this increase is probably due to a change in definition of hate-motivated crimes, rather than to an actual increase in such offences.

Apparently, before 1999, incidents were included in the statistics if they were solely motivated by hate. However, last year, the definition was considerably widened to include incidents that were thought to be either in whole, or merely in part, motivated by hate. This makes a difference.

In any case, whatever the definition, obviously even one offence motivated by hate, in whole or in part, or for any reason, is not acceptable in a civilized society. However, to claim that large numbers of homosexuals/lesbians are the targets of hate-motivated crimes is simply not true. To suggest otherwise is to participate in the BIG LIE as discussed by Mr. William Somerville, Q.C., in his article in the September/October 2000 issue of Reality.

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