 |
WINNIPEG -- Manitoba's violent crime rate is the worst in the country, according to a new Statistic Canada index that measures violent offences in a more relevant way.
Manitoba has always been among the leaders in violent crimes in Canada. But according to a new StatsCan "crime severity index" -- which puts greater weight on more serious violent crimes -- Manitoba ranks the highest among all provinces.
So it's not our imagination violent crime in this province is far worse than most other provinces. It's not the media exaggerating our violent crime rates. The cold, hard truth is violent crime in this province is way out of whack with the rest of the country.
The new index -- released for the first time yesterday -- is designed to track changes in the severity of police reported crimes, rather than simply adding up the total number of reported offences each year.
The index was developed in response to demands by police organizations to publish crime numbers that more accurately reflect the seriousness of offences committed from year to year.
For example, if the total number of violent offences per capita stays the same in any given year but there's an increase in more serious offences, such as aggravated sexual assault or attempted murder, the index will rise.
Manitoba's index for violent crimes in 2007 came in at 173.6, a staggering 80% higher than the national average of 96.5.
Only Saskatchewan came anywhere near Manitoba with a violent crime index of 170.5.
Most provinces fell well below the 100 mark. Ontario, for example, had a crime severity index of 83.1 for violent offences, less than half of Manitoba's.
Alberta's was 107.5 and British Columbia's 117.1.
Winnipeg also had the worst record for violent crimes among major Canadian cities.
Among cities with 500,000 people or more, Winnipeg had the highest crime severity index for violent crimes at 183.4, nearly double Toronto's rate of 95.
What this index shows is Manitoba's violent crime rate is even worse than we thought. It shows whatever we've been doing in this province to combat violent crime isn't working.
The lax sentences, coddling of criminals, the house arrests, etc., are not bringing violent crime rates down.
In fact, whatever Canada is doing generally about violent crime isn't working, either.
What the crime severity index shows is violent crime over the past decade has not decreased in Canada. People often confuse overall crime rates, which have fallen in recent years, with violent crime rates.
But if you look at the crime severity index, it shows violent crimes have not decreased in Canada between 1998 and 2007.
Which means all the conditional sentences, hug-a-thug policies and early parole our justice system espouses is not resulting in lower violent crime rates.
It's proof we need to do things differently in our justice system in order to reduce violent crimes in this country.
I suggest stiffer penalties for offenders, a greater emphasis on deterrence and denunciation, the elimination of statutory release (where criminals are released automatically after serving two-thirds of their sentence) and a complete revamping of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
For starters, anyway.
Manitoba has a very serious problem with violent crimes. We are way out of line with the rest of the country.
And I don't see our local governments doing much about it.
For more, visit Brodbeck's blog Raise a Little Hell at
winnipegsun.com. Reach Tom at 632-2742 or by e-mail at
tom.brodbeck@sunmedia.ca