The Gypsies: The Case Of R. V. Krymowski

Part A: Summarize the case

The case of R. v. Krymowski was around hate speech against the Roma people, also known as the “Gypsies”. A protest was staged by 25 neo-Nazis and other people in front of the motel where the Roma refugees were staying when they were allowed into Canada in 1997. These groups of individuals held up signs in order to gain support from the whole community to extradite/get rid of all the Gypsies who have immigrated. They eventually started getting assistance from a large group of people including public officials, police officers, members of the press and etc. Along with this were newspaper articles which were being published criticising the Roma people saying how they treated their wives and even their daughters unequally compared to the men in the family. They also believed that the Roma’s educated their children how to steal. About 3 weeks into the whole debate, the protesting began which last approximately over 2 hours. The Neo-Nazis held up some horrifying signs around the hotel where the Roma refugees were staying. Some signs stating “Honk if you hate Gypsies”, “Canada is not a Trash Can”, “You’re a cancer to Canada” and “G.S.T – Gypsies Suck Taxes”. However, there were no direct situations towards the Roma people during the whole period of the peaceful protest. Approximately 4 months after the protest had occurred; the police force entered numerous homes of individuals after extreme public lobbying by pressure groups. A number of people were charged with wilful promotion also known as hate crime. The Crown attempted to prove that the people that took place in the protest violated the Criminal Code by having hatred towards an identifiable group of people and tried to establish that the Neo-Nazis along w...

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... had a problem with the Roma people, then they could have dealt with the problem in a more mature way than done so.

Part D: Why is this case important for all Canadians, everywhere?

This case in particular is very important to all Canadians everywhere because it demonstrated the possibility of racial discrimination to occur till this very day. Even though the Crown was not able to clearly declare whether the people from Roma was what the Neo-Nazis were referring to as “Gypsies”. Also this case provides that even though there was only an accusation towards the Neo-Nazis because of the wilful promotion, the government will take matters into consideration and arrest the people who are suspected of taking part in this situation. In addition, it shows how the government will not tolerate any sort of discrimination or racism against any identifiable and/or minority group.