Hating Hate Crime Legislation

Over the years, Canada has become more and more multicultural. During the 1970’s, the government began to support multiculturalism by reforming immigration laws to allow more fair access to Canada and by beginning to celebrate people’s differences (Perry, 2001: 330). However, with the changing composition of Canada came severe prejudices. In response to this, the government enacted laws and policies oriented to dealing with hate crimes. Hate crimes can be defined as crimes motivated by hatred or prejudice towards one’s perceived membership to a particular social group, which include: race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, class, age, nationality or political affiliation (Perry, 2011: 367). ‘Hate crime ’ is a socially constructed phenomenon. Hate is a very ambiguous term that means different things to different people and can evoke passionate responses of outrage or agreement dependent upon one’s characteristics. (Chakraborti & Garland, 2009: 3). In the UK for instance, hate crimes are defined very differently than in North America. There, it is viewed that any crime could be a hate crime, anyone could be a victim of hate crime if they perceive themselves to be one, and any offender can be a hate offender (Hall, 2005: 19). In other words, any crime can be a hate crime, thus making the notion of hate crime, simply just a crime. I