Investigation is ongoing after a Hamilton, Ontario, council candidate’s campaign sign was vandalized.
The sign targeting Walter Furlan was reportedly found on Thursday with a swastika painted on Furlan's forehead and a mustache to make him look like Hitler. This is the second reported hate-related incident during the election cycle, according to local media.
The vandalism comes after a sticker reading “white people first” was put on a sign earlier this month by another Hamilton candidate, who is Black. This vandalism appeared to be connected to a larger white supremacist propaganda campaign.
Canadian Jews under attack
Jewish Canadians remain the most targeted religious minority for hate crimes, and second overall, according to Canada’s national statistical agency.
Statistics Canada released data in August showing that overall, hate crimes in 2021 targeting religious groups increased 67% from 2020, breaking a three-year downturn. Incidents targeting the Jewish community grew a dramatic 47% since then, and cumulatively 59% over the last two years. This shows that about four people out of every 3,000 members of Canada’s Jewish community report being the target of a hate crime in 2021.
There are approximately 380,000 Jews in Canada, representing barely 1% of the population, yet members of the Jewish community were victims of 14% of all reported hate crimes in 2021.
Zvika Klein contributed to this report.