Prejudice against Russians in Calgary has reared its ugly head as the Calgary Police Service (CPS) says it is investigating complaints by social media users of hate speech against Russian Calgarians..“In the past 48 hours, we have received multiple reports from citizens about what is believed to be hate speech and harassment targeting Russian-Calgarians on a social media platform. Our patrol officers and Hate Crimes and Extremism Team are currently investigating these incidents and monitoring them closely,” the CPS said in its press release..In Canada, hate crimes are federally and provincially regulated. The federal Criminal Code bans public incitement of hatred or deliberate encouragement of hatred. In section 319(1) of the Criminal Code, persons who promote hatred against an identifiable group by publishing hateful rhetoric that could potentially cause a breach of the peace could face sentences of up to two years..The Alberta Human Rights Act also prohibits discrimination, including publication, any symbol, notice, sign or representation that shows discrimination or an intent to discriminate against a person or any class of persons..The CPS defined the crime as acts of hate by an offender that are motivated by prejudice, bias against identifiable sub-groups of the population on the basis of race, gender, religion, language, sexual orientation, disability, age, sex, or gender..Calgary police are taking the allegations very seriously..“Hate-motivated crimes have no place in our community, and we will not tolerate criminal behaviour associated with hate speech and harassment,” said Sgt. Matt Messenger of the Hate Crimes and Extremism Team..“We encourage anyone who believes they have been the victim of a hate crime, or who may have witnessed one, to please come forward and report it to police.”.Calgary has already been witness to acts of hatred on the ground against Russians in the city..Last Sunday, the All Saints Russian Orthodox Church on 8 Ave. N.E. was vandalized. An unidentified person was caught on CCTV throwing red paint over the building’s front doors and step. The vandal scaled a fence to get to the church property and tried to gain entry to the building before causing damage.. Paint-Vandalism-All-Saints-Russian-Orthodox-Church-in-CalgaryImage courtesy of Global News .CPS encouraged anyone with information about these incidents to call the police non-emergency line at 403-266-1234, or report to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477..Amanda Brown is a reporter at the Western Standard
