Well, with all the
excitement about the Federal Fall Economic Statement yesterday, the release by
Statistics Canada of the 2017
homicide numbers flew in somewhat under the media radar. According to Statistics Canada, the homicides
in Canada hit its highest rate in almost a decade in 2017 with much of the
increase attributed to more firearm-related and gang-related incidents. The
firearm-related homicide rate increased 18 percent from 2016 to 0.72 per
100,000 population—the highest rate since 1992. Police reported 660 homicide
victims in Canada in 2017, 48 more than in 2016. The homicide rate rose 7
percent in 2017 to 1.80 victims per 100,000 population—the highest level since
2009. It would appear that the upward
increase in homicide rates was driven by British Columbia and Quebec.
What is also of
interest is the homicide rate by CMA for 2017 as shown in Figure 1. In 2017, the homicide rate per 100,000 ranged
from a high of 5.8 in Thunder Bay to a low of 0 in Saguenay. Greater Sudbury came in close to the bottom
at 0.61. The good news for Thunder Bay
is that the homicide rate for 2017 is down from 2016 when it stood at 6.62 per
100,000. The bad news is if one takes
the average homicide rates for all CMAs for the period 2006 to 2016 (see Figure
2) Thunder Bay also ranks the highest at
an average of 4.04 per 100,000, just ahead of Winnipeg at an average of 3.69. As for Sudbury, its homicide rate is up from last year - when it stood at zero - but given the rankings there does not seem to be that much to worry about there.
Needless to say, despite
an improvement in 2017 Thunder Bay still has work to do.