Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. I can speak from the Ottawa Police Service perspective. Previously we used to offer diversity training at our college, but now I take our officers to the mosque. We started doing that this year. We went to two different mosques. They got a chance to spend the day there. We

Canadian Heritage committee  We're looking at the areas of training, policies, data collection, recruitment, retention, all different aspects of policing. I also want to point out to the committee that within our current Ottawa Police Service business plan, we have an EDI lens. That's equity, diversity, and

Canadian Heritage committee  It's a lens we have. For example, for our transfer panels, who look at the transfer of members within the organization, we provide bias-neutral training. That's one of the pieces. We provide our promotion panel as well with bias-neutral training.

Canadian Heritage committee  The business plan itself?

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. It's available online at the Ottawa Police Service—

Canadian Heritage committee  Sure.

Canadian Heritage committee  While going through the recruitment process, the officers do go through psychological testing. It's been 20 years since I did mine, so I can't speak to the test, but it is done through professionals.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. As well, we have quite a rigorous recruitment process. We do thorough background checks on applicants to see if any flags pop up during the background phase.

Canadian Heritage committee  We've talked about a national strategy here, about building awareness. We need to talk about these issues. We can't just discount it and say that it's happening “down south”. If we don't deal with this head-on, it will manifest. We don't want to see the issues that are happening

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, a lot of communities are sometimes reluctant to come forward and report these incidents. According to Stats Canada, I believe two-thirds of hate crimes are unreported. That's a huge number, a huge gap. Again, in 2015 when that spike took place, I reached out to the entire Mu

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely, but still we need to make sure that there is that connection between law enforcement because again public safety is paramount and if somebody is in danger, they should be contacting the police.

Canadian Heritage committee  Hate crime is a complicated issue. Police are equipped to deal with it if a criminal offence is committed. Yes, absolutely, we will investigate it and we will prosecute it and make sure that all the steps are taken. As I said, it is a complex issue. The community has a big role i

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I would support that. I'm in full agreement. There's a need for a national strategy. If we don't address hate crimes and racial and religious discrimination, they could manifest and have far-reaching implications, based on what's happening around the world, for example. Yes

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes.

Canadian Heritage committee  We could always do more with building that relationship. Addressing hate crimes is a shared responsibility. We need to work with the community. The police alone can't fix this issue. The police can't take a leadership role in terms of guiding the community. It has to be led by