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We're #1 (Winnipeg FP)

Manitoba, Winnipeg murder capitals


Winnipeg and Manitoba are bucking the national trend in a most disturbing category - they now have the highest per capita rates of homicides, according to Statistics Canada.

Manitoba police reported 62 homicides in 2007, 23 more than in 2006. It is the province's highest level since data were first available in 1961.

That's a rate of 5.22 deaths per 100,000 residents. The next closest province was Saskatchewan where, with 30 homicides in 2007, the per capita rate was 3.01. In 2006, Saskatchewan had the highest rate, while Manitoba was second.

Most of the increase occurred in small urban and rural areas, Manitoba police said.

Nationally, there were 594 homicides, 12 (three per cent) fewer than in 2006, and it's a continuation of general downward trend since the mid-1970s.

Stabbings accounted for one-third of the deaths across Canada, while another third involved firearms. One in five homicides nationally were gang related.

While the overall rate of homicides committed with a firearm has generally been decreasing since the mid-1970s, the use of handguns has been on the rise. In 2007, handguns were used in two-thirds of all firearm homicides, up from about one-quarter 20 years ago.

Winnipeg, with 26 homicides in 2007, has a per capita rate of 3.55, the highest of all larger urban centres. Edmonton and Calgary followed, with rates of 3.28 and 3.14, respectively.

Five of the Winnipeg homicides involved firearms and five were gang related.