Read an interesting article explaining the high crime and homicide rates in Western Canada. It reminded me of what I wrote recently in our MB Prov Politics thread:
I find the whole "tough on crime" position to be narrow-minded. I'm still waiting for some academic or peer-reviewed journal to indicate that tougher sentences reduces crime. In actuality, we find correlations of crime in areas where there is also high levels of poverty, unemployment, and school drop-outs. I'm of the opinion that to "fix crime" we must address these vital problems in our society. So, I'm believe that "tough on crime" is a narrow-minded two-second soundbite, appealing to those who don't understand the effort and time it will take to fundamentally improve the conditions that lead to crime.
Do you think that the street-gang kids on streets like Selkirk and Sargent will think twice because of some tougher sentence? Or, if we raise the level of their quality of life, education, and offer them all the same potential for a bright future that kids in suburban areas enjoy... would that not be the better solution? Sure, it'll take a long time, and "tough on crime" appeals to simpletons who want what they want "right now!" The problem with this more altruistic idea, is how do you boil it down to a two-second soundbite that conveys the concept? How do you convey a complex idea to the average person who will only read a few bullet-points?
Anyway, IMO, it is vital that the living and social conditions among Aboriginals and on First Nations reservations be improved. This article points that the homicide rate is seven times higher in the Aboriginal population, as opposed to the non-Aboriginal population. A very telling stat that we must do all we can to improve their lives and provide them opportunities to reduce the chance that they may join a gang. However, all of this must be done in a culturally sensitive way.
Can you tell this is an issue that I feel strongly about?
Blah blah blah, I'll stop preaching... here's the article:
Rough and ready: Why are homicide rates high in the West?
Thursday, October 23, 2008 | 5:44 PM CT
by Cheryl Krawchuk, CBC News
Canada's homicide rate dropped in 2007, continuing a downward trend that started in the mid-1970s, says a Statistics Canada report published Thursday. Police reported 594 homicides last year, 12 fewer than in 2006.
Homicide rates fell in most provinces — with Manitoba the most glaring exception. The province had 62 homicides, an increase of 23 over a year earlier.
"The 2007 rate in Manitoba (5.22 per cent) was the highest among all the provinces and the highest in that province since statistics were first collected in 1961," said the report.
Among major cities, Winnipeg led with 3.55 homicides per 100,000 people.
Canada's western provinces — particularly Manitoba and Saskatchewan — have consistently reported the country's highest homicide rates. CBCNews.ca spoke with Michael Weinrath, the chair of the University of Winnipeg's criminal justice department and associate professor of criminal justice, about why the West consistently leads the country in homicides.
'Rough and ready'
Weinrath says it's a truism that violence increases in the shift westward.
"There's been different explanations. Some people say there's more of a frontier mentality out in the West," Weinrath says. "As the years go by, that seems to have become a less tenable argument."
The West has traditionally been home to more "rough and ready" types, says Weinrath, many recruited to fill the region's workforce.
"Winnipeg, although it's a very progressive city with lots of arts and culture, some people would also describe it as a very blue-collar city."
British Columbia, while perhaps perceived as a little less rough and tumble, has its own issues, he says.
"[Vancouver is] a port city and so it has all kinds of criminal activity there because it's a port entrance for drugs and that kind of thing."
Urban violence
Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary were the cities with the highest homicide rates, the report says. Weinrath says homicides are often concentrated in impoverished, downtown areas.
"Generally you have some pretty poor areas in those cities, often disadvantaged minorities in those cities," he says. "The homicide rate is seven times higher in the aboriginal population than it is in the Caucasian population, and that's a figure you can use nationally."
The large aboriginal population in the Prairie provinces probably has an influence on the homicide rate, Weinrath says.
Guns, drugs and gangs
One in five homicides reported in 2007 was gang-related, says Statistics Canada. Saskatchewan had the highest proportion of gang-related homicides of all the provinces — 30 per cent.
In Weinrath's hometown, Winnipeg, five homicides were gang-related. The city is having the same issues as other large Canadian cities, he says.
"One of the things that's happening is part of a national trend and that is that we're seeing more homicides connected with the deadly nexus — guns, drugs and gangs.
"We seem to have more firearm activity … drive-by shootings where people are just shooting through windows. As you have these sorts of conflicts, some of our homicides seem to be connected, not always to gangs, but definitely to the drug trade. That's a trend we've seen in the city and it's part of a national trend."
Rural violence
Most of the increase in Manitoba's homicide rate this year took place in small urban and rural areas, says Statistics Canada. Weinrath says rural gang activity is part of the problem.
"Compared to 10 years ago, a higher percentage of homicides can be attributed to the drug trade," he says.
Weinrath says the biggest issue contributing to an increase in rural homicides in Manitoba is the extreme poverty on many aboriginal reserves.
"We have reserves where you have to fly in, where there's no real source of income or jobs for most aboriginal people. And I think that … you sort of hit a critical mass and suddenly these problems just sort of bubble over," he says.
"The phenomena in the rural area is a concern. I think police intelligence activity in the rural areas can do something to curtail the gang activity. With some of the things that are happening in the impoverished rural areas, I mean, those are social issues that governments need to take action on."
Handgun use on rise
While Canadians were equally at risk of being shot or stabbed last year (188 people were shot; 190 were stabbed), the use of handguns in homicides is on the rise, says Statistics Canada. Of the 188 firearms used to commit homicide in 2007, two-thirds were handguns — 16 more than a year earlier.
Weinrath says the rise in handgun use is worrisome.
"It's connected … the drugs, the gangs. Suddenly people have firearms in their hands and they want to resolve these conflicts. It's just harder to kill people with your bare hands or a knife than it is with a handgun. And of course, a handgun's easier to conceal."
Excluded from prosperity
Economic prosperity on the Prairies hasn't helped decrease violence, Weinrath says.
"Both Manitoba and Saskatchewan have both done very well economically. The unemployment rates are tiny," he says. "We have all this prosperity on the Prairies and we have a hard time engaging our low-income groups. And it's not just aboriginals; I mean, some of our immigrant population, Africans from Somalia, Congo … some of them have become involved in gangs."
Despite the rise in Manitoba, homicides remain statistically rare in Canada, Weinrath says.
"You'll see years where it goes up but it sort of averages out across the country."
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