CANADA’S WORST MASS SHOOTING HELPED PUSH 2020 MURDER RATE TO 15-YEAR HIGH

Fri 26 November 2021:

According to Statistics Canada, the murder rate in Canada rose to its highest level since 2005 last year, fueled in part by the country’s worst-ever mass shooting, which killed 22 people.

Statscan also noted societal stresses caused by lockdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canadian police reported 743 murders in 2020, up from 687 in 2019. The murder rate increased to 1.95 per 100,000 people, the highest in 15 years, from 1.83 per 100,000 people in 2019.

Since its recent peak of 2.69 homicides per 100,000 population in 1991, Canada’s rate has gradually declined.

“While homicide continues to be a relatively rare occurrence, representing less than 0.2% of all violent crimes in Canada in 2020, homicide rates are considered benchmarks for levels of violence,” Statscan stated in a commentary.

According to FBI data, the overall murder rate in the United States in 2020 was around 6.5 homicides per 100,000 people.

The increase in Canada was driven by an increase in murders in the provinces of Alberta and Nova Scotia.

Gabriel Wortman murdered 13 people in Nova Scotia on April 18, 2020, and another nine the next day before being shot by police.

According to Statscan, this contributed to a “uncharacteristically high homicide count and rate for the province.”

Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta’s two most populous cities, saw significant increases, contributing 15 more murders to the national tally than in 2019.

The rate of firearm-related homicides in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, fell by 22%, from 1.03 per 100,000 population to 0.80.

In Canada, there were 15 more firearm-related killings in 2018 than in 2019, while gang-related murders decreased 10% in the same period.

File Photo: Crime scene where a man driving a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran over a Muslim family, killing four and injuring a boy, in what police say was a deliberately targeted anti-Islamic hate crime, in London, Ontario, Canada June 7, 2021.

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