The increased publicity of far-right extremist groups is partially to blame for the “noticeable increase” in hate crimes in Mississauga and Brampton, says a report that will be presented to the Peel Regional Police Services Board on Friday.

The 2017 annual Hate/Bias Motivated Crime Report reveals hate crimes in Peel shot up last year with 158 incidents compared to 59 in 2016.

“Part of the reason for this increase may be related to a focus on hate-motivated crime training, part of which includes information being relayed to community members on the importance of reporting such crimes,” wrote Peel police Const. Karen McNeilly in the report. “Additionally, the recent increase in groups espousing far-right ideologies may be triggering more overt crimes of hate, such as graffiti-related mischief, with a particular focus on the Jewish and Muslim faiths.”

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McNeilly added that the “noticeable increase” in reported hate crimes should be put into context.

“Irrespective of the fact that the regional community is increasingly more diverse, hate/bias motivated crimes reported to police continue to be low,” she states in the report.

The Hate Crime Report by the Peel service documented incidents in 2017. Here are the five most targeted groups:

Muslims (57 incidents)

Black community (39 incidents)

Jewish community (36 incidents)

South Asian community (12 incidents)

LGBTQ community (eight incidents)

Middle Eastern (five incidents)

Last year, 35 of the 158 hate motivated crimes reported to Peel police involved acts of violence, including threatening (13), assault (13) and assault with a weapon (five).

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McNeilly said a reason for the recent spike in hate-motivated crime may be in part, due to Peel police’s “dedication to educating and working with the community in an effort to not only address issues of hate-motivated crime but also generate more calls to police if/when such incidents arise.”

The increase in the “visibility and the voice of far-right extremists groups” have also played a role in the rise of “anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim targeted bigotry,” McNeilly said.

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