A man who vandalized a pride flag outside Lonsdale Quay Market has been convicted of committing a hateful act.
Kristopher Kamienik, 51, was sentenced in North Vancouver Provincial Court on Wednesday afternoon for two counts of mischief, the second of which the judge determined was a crime motivated by hate.
In May of 2023, a Lonsdale Quay employee reported to police that a progress pride flag had been cut down from a pole. The progress flag has the six rainbow colours of the original pride flag, with additional colours added in a V-shape to represent transgender people and communities of colour.
Following the incident, Kamienik posted video footage of the vandalism to Facebook that showed him holding the flag taken off the nearby pole. He called the flag “f*cking ugly” and “pedo” and said he was going burn it. Judge Joanne Challenger read the transcript verbatim in court.
In July of 2023, police arrested Kamienik and charged him with two counts of mischief: for the flag incident, and for defacing the offices of North Vancouver-Lonsdale MLA Bowinn Ma and North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson on several occasions earlier that year.
After entering guilty pleas on Jan. 5, defence lawyer Jordan Allingham argued his client should receive conditional discharges for both counts, which would leave him free of a criminal record and jail time. But Crown counsel Eleasha Sabourin said Kamienik should be handed a suspended sentence, which carries a record of his conviction, as has been decided in similar rulings for hateful acts.
While Challenger agreed that the accused should not receive a criminal record for his graffiti of the politicians’ offices, she ruled that his “disgusting” commentary around the flag vandalism made it clear that his offence was motivated by hate of non-cisgendered people, specifically transgender people.
Under Canadian law, hate speech is seen as having three main parts, the judge said: It’s expressed in a public way or place; it targets a person or group with protected characteristics, such as sexual orientation or identity; and it uses extreme language expressing hatred towards that person or group because of their protected characteristic.
“The commentary of the offender captured in the video, which he took after vandalizing the flag pole and the flag, makes clear his offence was motivated by hate,” Challenger said. “It was baseless to suggest … that all non-cisgender people engage in the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. However, that does not make his comments any less painful or hurtful.”
People who are victims of hate speech can often feel traumatized, unsafe and so uncomfortable that they don’t feel welcome in their communities, she added.
Accused's prospects for rehabilitation low, judge says
Challenger further characterized Kamienik’s comments as “vacuous” and lacking any thoughtfulness.
Speaking to Kamienik’s submissions that his actions in part stemmed from being bullied as a gay man, the judge acknowledged there exists some debate whether the interests of gays, lesbians and bisexuals differ from transgender people.
“Kamienik’s comments and conduct did not contribute in any meaningful way to the issue which he says concerns him,” Challenger said. “Rather, he chose to destroy a symbol that celebrates the diversity of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and calls for a more inclusive society.”
“The irony is that the offender is a beneficiary of the same social movement,” she said, adding that transgender people have been an integral part of that movement since the Stonewall protest in 1969.
Doubting his prospects for rehabilitation, the judge said Kamienik presents as someone who acts on his own personal grievances in an antagonistic and thoughtless manner.
“In conclusion, I find the grounds established beyond a reasonable doubt that the motivations of the offender have prejudice towards non-cisgender people,” she said.
Further aggravating his sentence was the planning and deliberate action that went into cutting down the pride flag, followed with his commentary posted on social media.
Challenger handed Kamienik a conditional discharge and one-year probation for the earlier mischief charge, and a criminal conviction with a suspended sentence with two years of probation. Kamienik is banned from Ma’s and Wilkinson’s offices, as well as Lonsdale Quay.
Before leaving the courtroom, Challenger asked Kamienik in how many countries is homosexuality punishable by imprisonment. Seventy-two, she said.
“How far away are you as a homosexual man with a transgender person through the eyes of those who hate? Not far is my suggestion,” she said. “And by promoting hate against that group you are inviting hate against yourself and your sexual identity.”
“I disagree,” he replied.
“I understand you disagree, but as I pointed out in my report, sir, you have difficulty with rational thinking.”
