NCCM welcomes Statistics Canada’s early release of hate crime data

Expresses ongoing concern about rising level of hate crimes

(Ottawa – November 28, 2017) The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), a prominent civil liberties & advocacy organization, welcomes Statistics Canada’s earlier publication of key findings and overall trends from 2016 police-reported hate crimes. This represents a change from the normal two-year time lag between when data is collected and when it was traditionally released.

“The NCCM has long called for the earlier compilation and public release of data on police-reported hate crimes. We are pleased to see today’s 2016 information release from Statistics Canada,” says NCCM Executive Director Ihsaan Gardee.

“Bringing public attention to the issue of hate crimes more than once per year will also assist stakeholders, policy makers, and law enforcement respond in a timelier manner to changes in the data,” says Gardee.

“While we welcome the early release of these key findings and we are encouraged that there appears to be a decrease in the numbers of police-reported hate crimes targeting Muslims, we remain concerned by what we are hearing regarding the severity and nature of these hate crimes,” says NCCM Human Rights Officer Huda Alsarraj. “This concern is compounded by the fact that hate crimes are among the most under-reported of all crimes in Canada with research showing that up to two-thirds of victims do not report such crimes,” says Alsarraj.

Following the devastating Quebec City mosque attack on January 29, 2017, the NCCM released an open letter which called on police services to publicly report on hate crimes in their jurisdictions and for all levels of government to provide the necessary funding to ensure better hate crimes training for law enforcement.

The NCCM collects and publishes reports of anti-Muslim hate crimes and hate incidents on its online hate tracking map. It also provides a Community Safety Kit to help communities take proactive steps to ensure the safety of their institutions and congregations.

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

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