Ottawa looking to squash hate with symposium on kindness

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe hosts a panel discussion during the City of Kindness symposium. Feb. 12, 2026. (Dylan Dyson/CTV News Ottawa)

A City of Kindness Symposium was held Thursday at Ottawa City Hall, attended by faith and community leaders, with a goal of promoting kindness and building a safer, more inclusive and compassionate city.

After a year where there were prominent acts of hate and racism in Ottawa, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is looking to change the narrative for the city.

“Where we don’t see racist graffiti being sprayed on a mosque or another religious institution. Where we don’t see hate based violence occurring in our city,” said Sutcliffe Thursday.

“And I know that’s an ambitious goal, but we must do everything we can to achieve it.”

The event was attended by a broad array of representatives from Ottawa’s cultural and religious communities.

Danya Vered, chair of the board of directors for the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, says the city’s Jewish population still carries trauma from an attack last August, where a Jewish woman was attack and stabbed by a stranger at a west-end grocery store.

“It’s still very tough for Jewish community members to feel safe and secure in public spaces,” Vered told CTV News.

“We’ve had tremendous outreach from other cultural communities, other faith communities, but it is tough.”

That same August – just a day apart – the Stittsville Muslim Association was also the victim of an act of vandalism.

Imam Ahmed Elemam says acts of hate will never be eliminated, but the goal is to minimize the number of acts.

“If we stare and say every single day, ‘Islamophobia’, then I don’t have a chance to build. So, you want to have a balance whereby, how do we build for a better future and not sit looking at the rearview mirror the whole time? Or else we crash.”

But data released by Ottawa Police at the beginning of February shows that hate-motivated incidents are on the decline.

In 2025, there were 358 hate-motivated incidents reported, down 23 percent compared to 2024 where 467 such incidents were reported.

“The ultimate goal is to have a city where everyone feels safe, where everyone feels they belong, and where we have minimized or eliminated acts of racism and violence and hatred,” said Sutcliffe.

Sutcliffe says that a Kindness action plan is set to be created.

“It’s important to look at the city of Ottawa as what could be done better,” said Elemam. “This is one of the avenues, not the only avenue.”

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