Ottawa Mayor is a victim of homophobic graffiti

Homophobic graffiti was painted over the weekend outside the residence of Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, which provoked the anger of many, including Prime Minister Trudeau.

A neighbor who noticed the words “F ** k You F * g” painted on the road in front of Mayor Watson’s residence called police officers in the federal capital to the scene Sunday morning. After the photos were taken as evidence, Sleetz drafted a crime report and contacted city employees with a pressure washer to remove the graffiti.

In an email to the QMI agency, the press secretary of the first magistrate’s office noted that “the mayor is frustrated that someone is spending time and effort to fix one’s sexual orientation and destroy public property.”

Reactions

This heinous crime has been condemned by many individuals and organizations. Among other things, Justin Trudeau said he was horrified by the incident.

“This ignorance and unforgivable hatred has no place anywhere in this city or in our country,” the Prime Minister of Canada wrote on Twitter.

Chances are, the day before the Jim Watson riots, he was the longest-serving mayor in Ottawa history, holding these positions from 1997 to 2000 and resuming his seat in 2010.

Grow in hate crimes

The city of Ottawa has not been immune to the rise of hate crime in many major cities around the world since the outbreak began. The 182 cases registered in 2020, all types combined, represent a 57% increase compared to last year.

Visible minorities, especially those of Asian descent and members of the LGBTQ2 + community, were increasingly targeted by these attacks.

“It’s embarrassing. There’s never been a need for such atrocities,” Ottawa Police Services Board Chair Diane Deans Chief of Police Peter Sloley said at an event he attended, stressing that “the rise in hate crime is worrying.”

The mayor of Ottawa revealed his homosexuality publicly in August 2019.