The attorney will coordinate the work of the Manitoba Prosecution Service's hate crime working group
The Manitoba government has appointed a lead provincial Crown prosecutor to address hate crimes, announced Justice Minister Matt Wiebe.
The Manitoba Prosecution Service will designate the new lead Crown attorney, who will coordinate the work of the province’s hate crime working group within the service. The minister said that the government was drafting new terms of reference for the working group.
In addition, the government said it intended to offer Crown attorneys additional specialized training to enhance their expertise and support hate crime prosecution such that offenders are held accountable.
“Hate has no place in our province,” said Wiebe in a statement. “We’re protecting families and the democratic freedoms we value. We want Manitobans from all walks of life to know their government is going to show up for them.”
He explained that hate crime prosecution could be complex and impact the community. From 2017 to 2022, 178 hate-motivated crimes were reported to police in Winnipeg. In 2022, 3,576 hate-motivated crimes were logged across Canada.
The Manitoba Prosecution Service currently has a hate crime working group that provides guidance and expertise in prosecuting hate-related offences. As part of the new initiative, a lead Crown attorney will be designated to co-ordinate the group’s work. The province is also updating the group’s terms of reference to reflect its ongoing priorities, according to Wiebe.
Hate crime prosecutions are often complex and can have a significant impact on communities, Wiebe noted. Between 2017 and 2022, Winnipeg recorded 178 police-reported hate-motivated crimes, while across Canada, there were 3,576 reported incidents in 2022.
In November 2024, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation partnered with the Western University’s Faculty of Law to develop the “Hate Indicators: A Canadian Hate Crime Case Law Research Tool,” which is intended to support hate crime prosecution in Canada. The tool provided insights obtained from 15 years’ worth of case law and a pool of over 100 cases.
