OTTAWA, Ontario, September 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Ontario ruling Liberal Party announced today a $200,000 increase in funding intended to help police investigate hate crimes in the province.
Correctional Services Minister Monte Kwinter said the money would be used to double the number of police regions that now host Joint Forces Hate Crimes/Extremism Investigative Teams (HCEIT) from five to ten. Currently, Waterloo, Guelph, Ottawa, Hamilton and London have hate crimes units; Toronto, Durham, York Region, Halton and Oxford will be added to the roster.
An important part of the hate crimes investigative unit is a database that, besides containing data and profiles of extremists, also includes photos of events. The slated funding also includes $93,000 for a hate-crimes analyst who will monitor activity on the internet.
Homosexual activists celebrated the announcement in Hamilton, where MPP Judy Marsales made the funding announcement to a group gathered at a café.
Homosexual hate crimes legislation, Bill C-250, which became law earlier this year, has pro-family factions rankled, especially since hate crimes investigations have increasingly targeted clergy and other traditional family values defenders who criticize the homosexual lifestyle. Bill C-250, ostensibly a measure to increase the protection of homosexuals from violence, in fact criminalizes statements noting the negative effects of homosexual activity and limits the ability of religious leaders and institutions to communicate essential matters of faith.
Canada has seen a number of cases where members of the public have been prosecuted for calmly and intellectually defending their positions regarding the immorality of homosexuality. One bishop from Western Canada faced a human rights tribunal to answer for his defense of basic Christian teachings, although the gay activist who brought a complaint ultimately dropped it, admitting that he had charged the bishop for sake of the publicity. A second similar complaint against Calgary’s Bishop Fred Henry is still pending.
See related LifeSiteNews.com reports:
Same-Sex “Marriage,”“Hate Crimes,” and the New Totalitarianism
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/050228a.html
Student Pro-Life Group Investigated For ‘Hate Crime’
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2001/mar/01030201.html
Homosexual Activist Group Behind Hate Crimes Legislation Admits Position
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/oct/02102304.html
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