B.C. human rights commissioner Kasari Govender was in Nanaimo on Thursday, June 15 to talk about her office's report on the rise of hate during the pandemic. Through police data alone, the report showed a 118 per cent increase in hate incidents in B.C. from 2019-2021. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

hate rising

Rise in hate concerns B.C. human rights commissioner

Jun 16, 2023 | 5:28 AM

NANAIMO — The COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant rise in hate-related incidents, with Vancouver Island second behind the Lower Mainland in reported occurrences.

That’s according to the B.C. human rights commissioner Kasari Govender, who released a report in March about the rise of hate during the pandemic, titled “From hate to hope“.

Govender said their report focused on hate incidents not only based on race or religion, but gender, disability, and other forms of discrimination including poverty and homelessness.

“What we’ve seen is a rise of hate almost across the board. We also know that the data we have is not complete. We’ve got a very minimal data set about people who reported to police, with police using not necessarily the same uniform standard of how they assess hate. So we’ve got an incomplete picture of hate and many, many people don’t actually report hate incidents they’ve experienced.”

Along with police data, they used information from 2019-2021 from sources like Statistics Canada, information from the B.C. Prosecution Service, data from the courts, and public surveys.

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Out of 2,642 completed surveys, 930 were deemed usable and on-topic, with respondents consenting to have the information released.

While the majority of respondents who reported experiencing, being affected by, or witnessing a hate incident were from the Lower Mainland (57 per cent), the second highest was seen on Vancouver Island/Coastal region at 25 per cent.

“I know there has been a lot of news stories emerging from Nanaimo about hate incidents that have happened here, including hate on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and race and Indigeneity.”

Incidents include a rainbow crosswalk and pride mural defaced in July 2021 and the theft of red dresses and pride flags from a Nanaimo non-profit in Dec. 2021.

An exert from the “From hate to hope” report about the rise of hate during the COVID-19 pandemic featuring a story from the Snuneymuxw First Nation. (British Columbia’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner)

“We’re seeing a rise in hate also before COVID with the rise of white nationalism globally and the sort of change in political climate. It’s not entirely easy to separate those two things out but the result is the same, which is we’re seeing a rise of hate especially during times of crisis.”

Seventy-seven Island residents reported being affected “many times” by hate incidents, with 86 of those saying a group was blamed or perceived to be blamed for the pandemic.

Govender said fear, isolation, loneliness, anxiety, and increased time spent online during the pandemic were all contributing factors.

They also included gender-based violence in the report, which is generally not included in hate crime statistics because they’re rarely prosecuted as hate crimes.

“We know that gender-based violence went up significantly over this time when people were in isolation with an abusive spouse for example, or an abusive family member.”

In the report, Govender laid out a dozen recommendations aimed at the provincial government, police forces, and social media companies to help combat incidents of hate.

They range from reforming our education system with an anti-hate curriculum, strengthening the criminal just response to hate, and how to better understand these issues during emergency response management.

“Some of these same principles often apply when we see communities who have been pushed out of their homes because of floods and fire for example, communities in crisis see the rise of hate and violence and we can no longer be surprised by it.”

Govender was in Nanaimo on Thursday, June 15 to talk about her office’s report on the rise of hate during the pandemic, and presented a “living library” at VIU where individuals who have experienced hate first-hand told their stories.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow