Swastikas Found on Ontario Streets

Two spray-painted swastikas were found in a Canadian neighborhood on September 5.

The swastikas were on Harvest Road in the neighborhood of Greensville in Hamilton, Ontario; one swastika was on the sidewalk, and another directly on the street. The latter swastika has been painted over.

Greensville resident Kristin Glasbergen, who saw both swastikas, told the Hamilton Spectator, “We have an open-minded community, so you assume it’s not someone from Greensville, but who knows. I was pretty grossed out when I saw it.”

Hamilton Detective Paul Corrigan told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that there weren’t any cameras nearby to catch whom the perpetrator is. “It’s not like the downtown core where people are travelling through,” Corrigan said. “I’m guessing it’s someone from the area.”

He added that there have been 42 hate crimes in Hamilton in 2020, which is down from 79 over the same time period in 2019. However, he pointed out that there has been a recent spike in instances of hate-crime graffiti over the past three weeks.

B’nai Brith Canada tweeted, “Two #swastikas were discovered painted on streets in Dundas. This act of hate is an affront to our Canadian values and will not be tolerated. @HamiltonPolice are now investigating the incident as a #HateCrime.”

Two #swastikas were discovered painted on streets in Dundas. This act of hate is an affront to our Canadian values and will not be tolerated. @HamiltonPolice Police are now investigating the incident as a #HateCrime. #Antisemitism #Canadahttps://t.co/PdBFZlKX4A

— B'nai Brith Canada (@bnaibrithcanada) September 10, 2020

B’nai Brith Canada’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents released in May found there was an 8% increase in anti-Semitic incidents from 2018 to 2019 in Canada overall; Ontario saw a 62.8% increase during that timeframe.