SHIMON Koffler Fogel, President and CEO of the Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), on Tuesday said that the CIJA welcomed the establishment of an RCMP task force to create standards for the investigation of hate crimes, something they had asked for during last summer’s National Summit on Antisemitism hosted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

He said: “Statistics Canada data released last week show that hate crimes are at record levels indicating an urgent need for action. This is an important and encouraging step forward.

“The Jewish community, which is 1% of the Canadian population, was the target of 62% of all hate crime targeting religious minorities in Canada. While the latest Statistics Canada data show a 16% decline in hate crime targeting religious groups, hate crime targeting Jewish Canadians increased by 5%.

“We are grateful that police services across the country take hate incidents seriously, but more can and must be done to address this alarming trend. We look forward to supporting the RCMP’s initiative, which we hope will build on the important review of hate crime policies, practices, and challenges conducted by the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police.”