Discrepancies Between Federal and Quebec City Police Hate Crime Stats Cause for Alarm

– For Immediate Release –

(Montreal – August 22, 2019) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) is concerned by the fact that 2018 federal Statistics Canada data suggests that hate incidents in Quebec City were three times higher than what Quebec City Police (SPVQ) are reporting.

“Putting the data discrepancy to one side, we don’t think it is appropriate for the Quebec City police to pat themselves on the back about any decline of hate crimes while the Quebec City Mosque, where six men were killed in a hate-motivated attack in 2017, continues to face attacks, and just a week ago feces were smeared at a local Muslim business in Quebec City”, said Mustafa Farooq, Executive Director of NCCM. “The fact that the SPVQ declined to explain the discrepancies further indicate that there is a huge gap between what we expect of our police forces and what is actually happening on the ground. We are talking about real human beings whose safety and security is at stake: it is time for the SPVQ to take that seriously”.

Simply, the SPVQ owes Quebecers an explanation, and needs to develop a truly comprehensive strategy to halt attacks against minority communities in Quebec City.

The NCCM is an independent, non-partisan and non-profit organization that is a leading voice for civic engagement and the promotion of human rights.

-30-