London City Council starts a new campaign against hate: ‘Action and alliance’

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London City Council is launching a new public awareness campaign to combat hate, a provincially funded pilot program that could be a model for other communities.

City officials on Friday launched the Stop Tolerhating campaign, a play on the word tolerate. The website and accompanying public awareness campaign aim to address intolerance in the city and prevent future incidents of racism, hate and discrimination.

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“Stop Tolerhating is not just a response to the challenges we face, it is a statement of the type of city we want to be,” Mayor Josh Morgan said in a news release Friday. “Through awareness, action and partnership, we can foster a community where no one is left behind.”

The Stop Tolerhating website has information on how Londoners can combat prejudice in their own lives and be allies to others facing hate.

The website offers advice on how bystanders who witness hate can intervene and strategies for dealing with hate online, at work or school, and in social situations. The campaign encourages Londoners to speak out and tackle hate head-on if they see it.

Stop Tolerhating also has resources for Londoners who have experienced hate, including links to community supports for specific groups such as Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ, Muslim and Jewish residents.

“London neighborhoods should be safe places, not places of tension,” said London Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression director Sanjay Govindaraj. “We have the power to turn fear into hope and create a London where everyone can walk out their door without fear of harassment, judgment or violence.”

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The project was led by the council’s anti-racism and anti-oppression division and was completed with the collaboration of a number of local organizations and consultation with communities denied equity in London.

London’s Stop Tolerhating campaign, which will include ads on digital billboards and at traffic stops across the city, will run until July 2025.

In June 2023, the provincial government gave city council $500,000 to support new programs to combat hate and racism. London City Council has since developed the Stop Tolerhating public awareness campaign and an online resource centre.

The province’s funding pledge came as London marked the second anniversary of the murder of four members of the Afzaal family, who were run over and killed at a Hyde Park intersection because of their Muslim faith.

Last November, Nathaniel Veltman was found guilty of four counts of first-degree murder for the murders of Talat Afzaal, his son Salman Afzaal, his wife Madiha Salman and their daughter Yumnah Afzaal and one count of attempted murder of the youngest member of the Afzaal family. .

At his sentencing in February, the judge determined that Veltman’s crimes constituted terrorist activity.

More information:

Website: www.london.ca/stoptolerhating

Hashtag: #StopTolerhating

Comments and questions: [email protected]

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