Hate crimes in Canada jumped by 35 percent in one year, with Jews and blacks the leading targets.
Figures released by Statistics Canada showed 1,036 hate crimes reported in the country in 2008, with 55 percent motivated by race, 26 percent by religion and 16 percent by sexual orientation.
Crimes motivated by race or ethnicity were up 15 percent in 2008 over 2007, with blacks targeted in four out of 10 incidents.
Gleaned from police data across the country, the numbers show that hate crimes motivated by religion increased 53 percent.
As in previous years, about two-thirds of religiously motivated hate crimes were committed against Jews. There were 165 hate crimes targeting Jews in 2008, an increase of 42 percent over the year before.
Twenty-six incidents were reported against Muslims, representing a slight drop from 2007. — jta