THUNDER BAY – The good news is that across Canada, homicides are down. The bad news, delivered by Statistics Canada is that Thunder Bay still is in the top ten, third most homicides in 2013 according to a report released by the agency. The figures for 2013 have Thunder Bay ranked third in urban centres with the greatest number of homicides.
It is very likely that the city’s ranking on that dubious list will climb for 2014, so far this year there have been ten homicides in the city. There were three reported in 2013.
Stats Canada says, “The overall decrease in homicides was the result of 40 fewer homicides reported in Quebec. The decrease in Quebec followed two years with higher than average numbers of homicides. There were 68 homicides in the province in 2013, representing a rate of 0.83 per 100,000 population. This was the lowest rate recorded in Quebec since reporting began in 1961.
“Among Canada’s census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Regina reported the highest homicide rate (3.84 per 100,000 population), followed by Winnipeg (3.24) and Thunder Bay (2.46). Homicide rates were below the national average in Canada’s two largest CMAs, Toronto (1.34) and Montréal (1.08), while the third largest CMA, Vancouver (1.72), reported a homicide rate above the national average. No homicides were reported in Moncton, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, Peterborough or Guelph in 2013.
“While Quebec experienced a marked decline, six provinces reported modest increases in the number of homicides in 2013. Taking these increases into account, the homicide rates in nearly every province and territory were below their 10-year averages in 2013. The exceptions were Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, where the 2013 homicide rates were above their previous 10-year average.
“Homicide rates continued to be generally highest in the West and the North. Provincially, Manitoba reported the highest homicide rate (3.87 per 100,000 population), followed by Saskatchewan (2.71), Alberta (2.04) and British Columbia (1.66). Nunavut (11.24) and the Northwest Territories (4.59) reported homicide rates higher than any province, while there were no homicides in Yukon for the third consecutive year.”
Most victims knew the accused person
Police report that “Almost 9 in 10 (87%) solved homicides in 2013 involved a victim being killed by someone they knew, compared with 13% of victims who were killed by a stranger. As a result, the rate of stranger homicide (0.14 per 100,000 population) was the lowest recorded in over 40 years”.
More specifically, victims of homicide in 2013 typically knew the accused person as an acquaintance (45%), a family member (33%) or through a criminal relationship (9%). While the number of homicides involving strangers decreased 25% in 2013, those involving acquaintances or non-spousal family members were relatively stable. The number of homicides committed in the context of a criminal relationship increased 57% from 23 to 36.
