Why are child murder statistics high in B.C.?

Astudy by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in Winnipeg has revealed some chilling facts, one of them deeply concerning to British Columbians. The centre assembled 40-year totals for the number of children abducted and subsequently murdered in each province and territory.

Between 1970 and 2010, 155 youngsters were taken and killed by someone outside the child’s immediate family. That works out to a national average of 4.4 deaths per million population.

If B.C. had followed that average, our total should have been 20. Instead, we recorded 46 child murders, or 10 deaths per million population — well over twice the Canadian figure.

By comparison, Ontario, with three times our population, had 40 deaths, and Quebec, with twice our population, 34. If the study is accurate, it would appear something has gone far off the rails in B.C.

The report makes grim reading. The average age of the kids killed was 11.6 years, and 84 per cent were girls.

Of the known offenders, nine out of 10 were men, 69 per cent were under 30 and 55 per cent had a previous criminal record. A third of the cases remain unsolved.

Almost half the abductions occurred on a Friday or Saturday, and of those youngsters whose time of abduction was known, 70 per cent were murdered within three hours.

It is sometimes said that after 48 hours, the chance of recovering an abducted child falls significantly. Apparently, the time window closes far more rapidly when a murder ensues.

There could be implications in this report for our corrections system. Among the offenders who had a prior criminal record, almost a third had already been convicted of at least one violent or sexual offence against a child.

And of the 80 killers being held in prison or at a medical facility for murdering a child, 30 are eligible for some form of parole. These profiles might indicate the need for a closer look at sentencing and parole policies.

There might also be some pointers for law enforcement. In abductions involving offenders with a prior criminal record, 37 per cent of the victims were killed at a location within walking distance of the site of the abduction. While these represent a minority of the total cases, the need for a close search of immediate neighbourhoods is at least suggested (and might very well be present practice).

But back to those B.C. numbers. What could possibly account for our deviating so far from the national experience?

Our demography differs slightly from the rest of Canada. We have an older population, though only marginally. But that offers no explanation. The study found that most of the offenders were young.

We do have a large metropolis — Vancouver — with some serious crime issues. But then, so do Ontario and Quebec.

We have a somewhat higher homicide rate than the country as a whole, and in particular, higher than the central and eastern provinces. But most homicide (generally speaking) has a different pathology than child abduction and murder.

B.C. also has a larger transient population than either Ontario or Quebec, given our position as a “gateway” province. That could be part of the explanation.

But there could be another, and completely unexpected, culprit — the weather.

Across Canada as a whole, abductions were most common in the summer months. Yet nationwide, half of all the abductions that occurred in winter took place in B.C. It’s hard to see an explanation other than climate that could account for this.

Crime rates are known to rise in warm weather. Could it be that our mild winters are also our Achilles heel?

This is pure speculation. The centre offered no explanation for its findings. But what else to make of such grim statistics?