A 48-year-old man charged in connection with hateful graffiti written on Vancouver’s Chinese Cultural Centre will appear for sentencing in Vancouver Provincial Court Dec. 29.
Yves Gerard Joseph Castonguay was charged with two offences – one for public incitement of hatred and one count of mischief to property used for religious worship, according to the Vancouver Police Department.
Castonguay appeared by video before Judge Nancy Adams Nov. 15. He remains in custody.
The charges came after the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside was vandalized April 2, 2020.
Racist language about the Asian community was written on the centre’s windows.
Castonguay was charged March 30 but didn’t show up for a subsequent court date.
At the time of the offence, Vancouver Police had seen a 717 per cent increase in crimes with an element of hate, bias and prejudice, with people of East Asian descent being the primary targets.
A criminal charge for public incitement of hatred is a serious and specific charge that is rarely used, police said at the time.
A bail publication ban still covers the contents of hearings, lawyer Mark Swartz confirmed.
The case records cannot be accessed online due to restrictions.
