CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Tuesday, Jul. 24, 2012 8:56AM EDT
Last Updated Tuesday, Jul. 24, 2012 1:25PM EDT
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is crediting his party's tough-on-crime agenda with nudging the crime rate in Canada to a 40-year low.
According to the latest data released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday, there were approximately 110,000 fewer crimes reported to Canadian police in 2011 than the year before, pulling the nation’s rate of reported crimes down to its lowest level since 1972.
Only about two million crimes were reported last year, a six per cent drop from the year before.
"Crime rate down 6%," Toews posted on his Twitter account Tuesday morning. "Shows #CPC tough on crime is working."
Toews has been at the forefront of the federal Conservative Party's so-called tough-on-crime agenda, epitomized by the omnibus crime bill that was passed in the House of Commons late last year.
Statistics Canada's report, based on reported incidents that occurred in 2011 prior to the passage of the bill, reflects a general decline in the crime rate since it peaked in 1991. In fact, StatsCan notes that this year marks the 8th consecutive report of an overall drop in the general crime rate across Canada.
The number of serious crimes reported in 2011 also dropped six per cent, the agency said.
This drop in crime was consistent for such major offences as attempted murders, major assaults, sexual assaults, robberies and break-ins.
In his tweet, Toews nevertheless signalled his party is sticking with its tough-on-crime stance.
"Rate is still 208% above 1962 levels, more work for our gov’t to do," he tweeted.
Increases were indeed recorded for crimes such as homicide, sexual offences against children, impaired driving and most drug offences.
For instance, the number of reported incidents involving sexual offences against children in 2011 increased slightly (3 per cent) to more than 3,800 crimes. Specifically, rates of luring a child via a computer and invitation to sexual touching both saw increases.
Keeping with previous years, however, four out of five crimes reported by police were non-violent in nature. Among the most common offences were crimes such as theft under $5,000, mischief and break-ins.
Though the majority of adults accused of crimes continues to be male, police have reported a 34 per cent increase in the number of women accused of committing offences.
Canadian youth crime rate declines 10 per cent
At the same time, there were about 18,000 fewer youth accused of crimes in 2011.
With just more than 135,600 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 accused of a crime last year, Canada’s youth crime rate declined 10 per cent, also following a general downward trend.
Crime rates overall were highest in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut but lowest in Ontario, where an impassioned debate about stemming gun crimes and youth offences is underway.
The numbers come the same day Toronto Mayor Rob Ford sits down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss guns crimes and gang violence in the bustling Ontario city.
Just a day ago, Ford secured $5 million a year in permanent funding for a Toronto anti-violence program from Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. The funding for Toronto comes from a $12.5 million a year provincial anti-violence strategy, all of which has been guaranteed.
Mayor Ford arranged the meetings with Harper and McGuinty after a mass shooting at a block party in an east-end Toronto neighbourhood killed two people and injured 23 others.
The Danzig Street shooting resurrected debate about several issues including the flow of guns in Toronto, support for families in the city’s social housing units and programs for at-risk youth.
The discussion comes just over a month after gunfire erupted in Toronto’s Eaton Centre shopping mall. Two men were killed and several others injured.
But, the latest figures show that Canada’s homicide rate has generally been following the crime rate -- decreasing since the mid-1970s.
According to Statistics Canada , the severity of crimes in most of Canada’s urban centres dropped in 2011, with the most notable decreases occurring in Victoria, Calgary and St. John.
Eastern provinces, in general, tended to have lower crime rates than those in the west.
