Following high-profile incidents of white-supremacist organizing, the City of Hamilton is looking to strengthen its response to hate, with better training, co-ordination and $50,000 in funding for community groups.

The plan is outlined in a staff report members of the Emergency and Community Services Committee discussed Thursday before unanimously voting to accept the recommendations, which will now go before city council for final approval. 

Jessica Chase, director of the Children’s and Community Services department, said Thursday the goal is to financially support community groups most impacted by hate and to work toward “trauma-informed and bystander training,” so city workers can better respond to incidents and share information across departments. She said another goal is to ensure the public is more aware of how to report hate incidents. 

While committee members were generally supportive of the plan, they also discussed how the city might go further.

Pointing to reports of hate groups organizing in Hamilton, Kojo Damptey, a researcher and community organizer who spoke to the committee as a delegate, said he thinks the city needs to take hate more seriously. 

“There needs to be some urgency and $50,000 is not going to fix that,” he said. 

Damptey was critical of the phrase “Hate has no place in Hamilton,” variations on which officials often repeat following hate incidents. 

“We shouldn’t be saying there is no place for hate in Hamilton. It is here and it’s staring us right in the face,” Damptey said.

He said declaring something has no place “doesn’t do anything” when the thing has already happened. “[Members of hate groups] laugh at the statements. We need action and accountability.”

Naming white supremacy

Coun. Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2) echoed that sentiment, saying “it kind of sounds hollow after you say ‘thoughts and prayers’ for the 55th time.”

Kroetsch said in his opinion, the city needs to be vocal and explicit when talking about hate groups, “naming what the issues are.” 

“It seems people have trouble saying the words ‘white supremacy,'” he said, pointing to a white supremacist group gathering at city hall in February.   

Based on discussions he sees online, the councillor said some residents seem to think hate means “being mean” or angry and don’t connect it with bigotry and discrimination.

He suggested it would be more impactful if instead of politicians denouncing hate, the city put out a statement explicitly saying “white supremacists were on the forecourt of city hall.”

Kroetsch said he plans to move a related motion in April focused on the city’s ability to respond to incidents outside of regular working hours. Currently, he said, Hamilton lacks that capacity.

Committee members also discussed practical limitations and challenges when responding to hate groups, such as decoding ever-changing symbols, or reacting when groups spread racism but don’t break the law.

Coun. Brad Clark (Ward 9) noted recent federal efforts to pass anti-hate legislation, saying he thinks that might offer more tools to help municipalities. Bill C-9 proposes new Criminal Code offences, including one that would make it a crime to intentionally promote hatred against identifiable groups in public using certain hate- or terrorism-related symbols.

City staff invited comments from Lyndon George, who directs the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC), and Sgt. Ryan Hashimoto, who oversees the Hamilton Police Service hate crime unit.

Hashimoto said the service is working to train frontline officers about hate symbols and how to respond to acts of hate.

He said police want to encourage more citizens to report hate directly to the service, though he noted the importance of HARRC’s own hate-reporting tool for people who might feel uncomfortable interacting with police.

George said countering white supremacist organizing requires stronger co-ordination between community groups, the city and police and that going forward, he’d like to see a greater recognition of the threat hate groups pose.

“We need to start to hold these individuals accountable,” he said.