Thursday June 16, 2026

To Member of Parliament for Oxford County Arpan Khanna, Member of Provincial Parliament for Oxford County Ernie Hardeman, and all members of the Norwich Township Council:

We, the undersigned residents of Oxford County, and other concerned Canadians, believe that everyone, no matter their age, race, religion, economic status, or gender identity, should feel safe in their community and especially within their schools. In a country like Canada, where everyone deserves to feel safe to be who they are, hate crimes have been steadily rising against the LGBTQ2S+ community. According to Statistics Canada, hate crimes against the LGBTQ2S+ community have risen 388% between 2016 – 2023, and the rise from 2022 – 2023 was a staggering 69%. The real numbers are higher as these are just the hate crimes that have been reported and investigated by police. We see these hate crimes happening in our community year after year and thus we call on you to do more to build a community where children, youth and adults, feel safe and thus can meet their potential for success in life. 

We call on you as a political leader to: address hate crimes when they happen, i.e. attend schools, places of worship, and other community locations immediately after you have received reports of hate crimes occurring. We call on you to make public statements condemning homophobia. We call on you to support the rising of Pride flags on all government buildings. We call on you to work with police to create a Hate Crimes Unit, so that there can be better accountability for the perpetrators of these crimes. We call on you to create a LGBTQ2S+ Youth Advisory Council for Oxford County so you can hear directly from youth about their needs and concerns. Lastly, we call on you to create a Neighbourhood Watch program in Norwich Township so that there is a group of committed citizens who can actively work with police to reduce all criminal behaviour in Norwich Township.