Asian Canadians and Hate Crimes During COVID-19

By Myrna El Fakhry Tuttle

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, there has been an increase in racially motivated hate crimes against individuals from East and Southeast Asia in Canada and around the world.

In May 2020, the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “the pandemic continues to unleash a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering.”  “We must act now to strengthen the immunity of our societies against the virus of hate,” he added.

In Canada and since the start of the pandemic, hates crimes against Asian Canadians have spiked and many have been threatened and harassed. This anti-Asian racism is related to historical and continuing discrimination against individuals of Asian origin.

 According to the Government of Canada:

Peoples of Asian heritage are subjected to specific overt and subtle racist tropes and stereotypes at individual and systemic levels, which lead to their ongoing social, economic, political and cultural marginalization, disadvantage and unequal treatment … These stereotypes are rooted in Canada’s long history of racist and exclusionary laws, and often mask racism faced by peoples of Asian heritage, while erasing their historical contributions to building Canada.

 Police Reported Hate Crimes

 A 2021 analysis of police-reported hate crimes found that the number of police-reported hate crimes in Canada increased 37% in 2020, rising from 1,951 incidents to 2,669. It also found that hate crimes against the East or Southeast Asian population increased significantly from 67 incidents in 2019 to 269 incidents in 2020 (+301%). This number of police-reported hate crimes against the East or Southeast Asians was the highest since similar data were available.

The report shows that the rates of hate crimes per 100,000 population increased the most in Nova Scotia (+70 %), British Columbia (+60 %), Saskatchewan (+60 %), Alberta (+39 %) and Ontario (+35 %).

 In Toronto, police said “victims were subject to derogatory comments and either punched, pushed, or spat on by the suspect during the assault” where the suspects “expressed blame on China for the COVID-19 pandemic.”

 In May 2021, Vancouver was called “The Anti-Asian Hate Crime Capital of North America”.

 What is Racism?

 According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission:

 Racism is an ideology that either directly or indirectly asserts that one group is inherently superior to others.  It can be openly displayed in racial jokes and slurs or hate crimes, but it can be more deeply rooted in attitudes, values and stereotypical beliefs. 

 Racism is different from racial discrimination and racial inequality.

 Racial discrimination includes any action, intentional or not, that has the effect of singling out persons based on their race (name, clothing, diet, beliefs and practices, etc.). Racial inequality is related to unequal outcomes (income, education, health, etc.).

 What are Hate Crimes?

 Barbara Perry defines hate crime as:

Behavior typically targeted at a marginalized group that consists of acts of violence or intimidation. Additionally, it is a means for establishing domination and power over a victimized group. Perpetrators of hate crimes are motivated by a perceived threat from a subordinate group that often involves a competition for resources and opportunities.” (see: Jenni Martin, The University of the Fraser Valley, Eliminate Hate: Hate Crimes and Hate Speech in Canada at 34 [Jenni Martin]).

 The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Survey (which collects police-reported crimes, including information on hate crimes) stated that:

Police-reported hate crime is defined as a criminal violation against a person or property motivated by hate, based on race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, or any other similar factor.

 It is important to note that hate crime is not the same as hate speech.

 Chetty and Alathur define hate speech as follows:

Hate speech is any speech intended to hurt or disrespect an individual or group based on the identity or perceived identity of the victim(s). Often stereotypes are embedded in these statements. Hate speech can exist independently of hate-motivated crime, but generally, hate crime will contain elements of hate speech. Hate-motivated crimes possibly originate from shared ideas communicated via hate speech, using a variety of platforms, such as social media, to spread the word. The purpose of spreading these messages is to foster fear and evaporate the voices of those with minimal protection from the law (Jenni Martin at 34).

 According to Jenni Martin, hate crimes usually start with minor crimes that take place on different occasions, then they tend to escalate (at 38).

 What Does the Criminal Code Say?

 The Criminal Code of Canada does not mention the words “hate crime.”

 Sections 318, 319(1), and 319(2) of the Criminal Code deal with the consequences of hate speech. These sections cover the offence of advocating genocide against a group, the public incitement of hatred, and the wilful promotion of hatred.

 Hate crimes usually refer to criminal incidents that are proven to have been motivated by hatred toward an identifiable group.

 According to section 318(4), such groups are distinguishable by “race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression, or on any other similar factor.”

 In addition, section 718.2 talks about hate motivation in the commission of an offence, and provides for stiffer sentence if crime is hate motivated.

 That’s why police in Canada don’t generally use the term “hate crime,” but instead use the words  “hate-motivated” or “bias-motivated” crime. Moreover, police departments in Canada have different definitions. The Department of Justice stated that there is a problem of defining hate crimes, which creates disagreement in the way it should be dealt with.

 Effects of Hate Crimes

 Offences, whether hate-motivated or not, can cause “physical injury, emotional and psychological distress or social isolation.” In addition, hate crimes can be more severe and can cause a disproportionate level of harm that impacts the victims and their entire communities.

 Barbara Perry stated the following:

 … the initial harm that is experienced by the victim may be physical injury or suffering, but it may also include psychological and emotional turmoil for the individual. Second, there is the harm to the group that the victim belongs to. There are harms associated outside of the victim’s immediate neighborhood and there is the harm that may be targeted towards global communities, societal norms, and values. (Jenni Martin at 39-40).

According to the Canadian Human Rights Commission “hate is a threat to public safety, a threat to democracy, and a threat to human rights. Hate speech violates a person’s most basic human rights and freedoms — the right to equality and to freedom from discrimination.”

 Moreover, research has showed that many hate crime victims do not report these incidents to the police. These victims worry that reporting will lead to more discrimination and believe that reporting won’t change anything.

 According to Statistics Canada, the low numbers of hate crimes reported, does not exclude the gravity of these crimes. As Julian Roberts stated: “it would be a mistake to measure the importance of hate crimes simply by the number of incidents reported to the police.”

 Freedom of Speech

 The right to express our opinions is a crucial element of a democracy. Freedom of expression gives us the right to dissent and the right to be heard.

 Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter) protects “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication”. Freedom of speech is also stated as a human right and fundamental freedom in the Canadian Bill of Rights, sections 1(d) and (f).

 The Charter recognizes that these freedoms are not absolute. Section 1 states that the Charter “guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society”.

 The Supreme Court of Canada stated that:

 [T]he Charter’s guarantee of freedom of expression is not absolute. It has upheld restrictions on forms of expression that it has deemed to run contrary to the spirit of the Charter, such as hate speech, given that the purpose of such expression is to prevent the free exercise of another group’s rights. (See: Julian Walker, Hate Speech and Freedom of Expression: Legal Boundaries in Canada at 3).

 Section 1 of the Charter shows that freedom of expression can be limited when its exercise results in harm to the public or the rights of others. For example, freedom of expression has been restricted by the Criminal Code to put a stop to hate propaganda. As mentioned above, sections 318 and 319 deal with hate and enforce criminal sanctions against any individual who wilfully promotes genocide or incites hatred in public.

 Conclusion

Dealing with hate crimes is a tough responsibility in Canada since there is no clear definition. But in order to tackle anti-Asian racism and in order to have an inclusive society, the Government of Canada recommends the following:

·       Learn about pan-Asian diversity and the unique identities and cultures that have enriched Canadian society

·       Challenge stereotypes and consider how they are rooted in the history of anti-Asian racism

·       Show solidarity with Asian communities in Canada, i.e. by supporting local Asian businesses and organizations

·       Be an ally – call out acts of racism, discrimination, and micro aggression and actively support those victimized by anti-Asian racism

·       Interrupt unconscious biases and consider how they can affect your behavior and decision-making.