Hate crime incidents increasing in Greater Sudbury

When Bela Ravi first moved to Canada from India in the 1970s, she said it was very difficult.

An undated aerial photo of Greaeter Sudbury, Ont. (File Photo/City of Greater Sudbury/LinkedIn)

"It is very hard to leave everything you know behind and come to a new place, be it the language, be it the food, be it the culture – it is very hard," she said.

"And just getting that pushback is devastating because I've been through it myself back in the 70s. It is devastating. It's sleepless nights. It's wanting to just disappear at times. You know, it is very hard to deal with."

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Ravi is now the president of the Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association.

She told CTV News that in the three decades she’s been in Sudbury she’s felt nothing but welcome so it is hard to hear there is an increase in hate crimes in the community.

"People see someone who’s different, who walks different, eats different, looks different, you know," she said.

"They don't have the education or the background on what immigration does for a city, a country."

Recently released statistics show an increase in hate crimes reported in the Greater Sudbury area over the last few years. In 2019, the Greater Sudbury Police Service had three reported hate crime incidents. In 2021 that number jumped to 10 and to then to 31 in 2023. (Graphic by CTV News Northern Ontario)

In 2019, the Greater Sudbury Police Service had three reported hate crime incidents.

In 2021, that number jumped to 10 and to then to 31 in 2023.

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Det. Sgt. Steve Train, of Greater Sudbury Police Service, told CTV News that while hate crimes are historically under reported, since adding an online reporting option in 2022, he feels more people feel comfortable coming forward, especially newcomers to the community.

Detective Sergeant Steve Train of the Greater Sudbury Police Service speaks with CTV News about the rise of hate crimes in the city. (Lyndsay Aelick/CTV News Northern Ontario)

"That really builds the community trust to know that we're here, we're open to listen," he said.

"That's a response from the community because with these types of offenses, it's a community problem. We want to address it so that we all live in a free, open society and our communities are safe for everyone."

Train said that in 2023, 20 out of the 31 incidents were related to race and ethnicity, while religion and sexual orientation were other types of motivation in other incidents reported.

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The criminal code states people can face imprisonment if found guilty of hate crimes, so Sudbury police said they strive to first focus on education.

"I use young offenders (as an example). They may paint a swastika not knowing the impact or what that really means. So, we'll have to do the education piece," said Train.

"That's where you really kind of look at it and why we capture those stats, so that we can guide and educate before punish and incarcerate and ... hold people accountable. Because, again, we want to educate the public in what it means and words can hurt. And then, if they perpetuate from there … then, we want to know before tragic incidents that we see happen."