Homicide rates on the rise in B.C.
Province, along with Quebec, drive national murder rate to highest in a decade
Canada hit its highest murder rate in almost a decade in 2017, driven by a significant increase in gun- and gang-related homicides in B.C. and Quebec.
That’s according to the latest Statistics Canada data, which show the firearm-related homicide rate increased 18 per cent last year from 2016, the highest rate since 1992.
Two provinces drove the national increase: B.C. with 118 homicide victims, up 30 from 2016; and Quebec, which reported 93 victims, up 26.
The homicide rate in B.C. was up 32 per cent, says StatsCan, making it the province’s highest rate since 2009, the year a drug gang war plagued the region. The numbers were highest in Metro Vancouver, which reported 52 homicide victims in 2017, its highest number since 2009. A rise in firearm-related incidents contributed to the increase.
StatsCan says 48 per cent of victims in Vancouver were killed by a firearm compared with 44 per cent in 2016, representing an increase of seven victims. Most firearm-related homicide victims (68 per cent) in Vancouver were killed with a handgun.
The gang-related homicide rate rose for a third consecutive year in 2017, with 23 more victims in 2017 than the previous year. The increases are blamed again on B.C., with 15 gang-related victims last year, and Alberta, with 12. Together, the two provinces accounted for almost half (47 per cent) of all gang-related homicides in Canada.
Across Canada, firearm-related homicide reached its highest level in 25 years, the report states. In 2017, there were 266 firearm-related homicides reported in Canada, 43 more than in 2016.
Handguns accounted for about six-in-10 firearm homicides in 2017.
B.C. had the largest increase (up 22 victims) in the number of firearm-related homicides among the provinces. More than half (53 per cent) of the province’s homicides involved firearms, 68 per cent of which were known or suspected to be gang-related. The rise in firearm-related homicides in B.C. is a result of increases in Vancouver (up seven victims) and Abbotsford-Mission (up four victims,) according to StatsCan.
Homicide isn’t the only violent criminal offence in Canada to increase since 2016. The agency says rates were up for attempted murder (four per cent), sexual assault (13 per cent), robbery (two per cent) and aggravated assault (one per cent.)
B.C.’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team launched investigations into 50 homicides in 2017, up from 43 in 2016, spokesman Cpl. Frank Jang said in an email. But for 2018, IHIT had launched 39 investigations as of Wednesday, on pace for fewer than last year, Jang said.
In July, the province provided $1.12 million in additional funding to expand the Expect Respect and a Safe Education (ERASE) anti-bullying program to “help educate youth and to fight the lure of gangs and gang violence.”