Peterborough homicide rate 14th highest in Canada
Peterborough’s homicide rate in 2016 was around the national average but was actually higher than many larger centres including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Hamilton.
Statistics Canada released figures on Wednesday on the rate of homicides per 100,000 people for Canada’s 33 census metropolitan areas and Peterborough’s rate was the 14th highest.
Peterborough had two homicides in 2016 – Cindy Torbar in March 2016 and Terry Pringle in November 2016 – and that was up from one in 2015, the December 2015 killing of Dr. Andrew Chan.
That resulted in a homicide rate of 1.62 per 100,000, based on the Peterborough CMA which is comprised of the city, Cavan Monaghan, Selwyn, Douro-Dummer and Otonabee-South Monaghan townships, along with Curve Lake and Hiawartha First Nations.
Nearby, Oshawa’s rate was 0.93 and Barrie’s was 0.92.
Police reported 611 homicides across Canada in 2016, a rate of 1.68 per 100,000 people. The national rate is one per cent lower from the year before and 44 per cent lower than the peak rate recorded in 1975.
Eight victims in Thunder Bay boosted the northern Ontario city’s homicide rate to 6.64 in 2016, the highest among the 33 CMAs. The homicide rate has generally fluctuated over the years in Thunder Bay. In 2015 it was 2.48, while 2014 saw a rate of 9.04.
The second and third highest homicide rates in 2016 were in the Prairies. Edmonton saw 47 homicides, nine more than the year before, for a rate of 3.39. Regina followed with 8 homicides and a rate of 3.23.
The CMAs with the lowest homicide rates per 100,000 were Greater Sudbury and Kingston in Ontario, and Trois-Rivières, Que. Police reported no homicides in all three communities in 2016.
Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary were in the middle of the list of 33 CMAs. Calgary saw 33 victims for 2.24 per 100,000, which is higher than the national rate. Vancouver saw a rate of 1.61 with 41 homicides, followed by Toronto with 1.55 and 96 victims. Montreal fared better with a homicide rate of 1.02 and 42 homicide reports.
Though Toronto had lower rates than a number of large cities, it did see 14 more homicides in 2016 than the previous year. Statistics Canada noted in their release that gangrelated homicides were a contributing factor to the year-over-year rise in victims.
For the 33 CMAs, the homicide rate per 100,000 was 1.63. Outside these metropolitan areas, the rate was 1.80.
For the third year in a row, homicides involving firearms saw an increase in both their number and rate. In 2016, there were 223 firearmrelated homicides, or 44 more than the year before. At a rate of 0.61 per 100,000, it was also the highest rate of firearm-related homicides since 2005.
Gang activity was linked to 54 per cent of these homicides, up from 43 per cent in 2015.
-- with files from Postmedia Network