Discussions

Youth homicide rate reaches record level, Manitoba's rate skyrockets  
 
Oct 17, 2007  
 
WINNIPEG - More Canadian kids faced homicide charges in 2006 than ever before - the apparent result of increased gang activity, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.  
 
There were 84 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 facing murder or manslaughter charges - a rate of 3.25 per 100,000 youths, the agency said. It was the highest per-capita rate since the agency started collecting data on the topic in 1961.  
 
The problem was especially pronounced in Manitoba, where the rate of 17.61 was more than double that of second-place Alberta, which registered a rate of 8.63.  
 
"I think you can draw some correlation in terms of the involvement of young people in gang or gang-related activities at a younger and younger age and ... the fact that young people don't use the same restraint that older people do," said Menno Zacharias, deputy chief of the Winnipeg Police Service.  
 
"We certainly see that out in the street in terms of the young people involved in gangs, who will kill for reasons that are as simple as 'you disrespected me."'  
 
Zacharias also pointed to Manitoba's high poverty rate - a sentiment echoed by University of Manitoba sociology professor Frank Cormier.  
 
"If you have few social supports, if you don't have the support of family ... the gang life is an alternative that can provide some of the things that are missing," Cormier said.  
 
Cormier cautioned that because the overall number of teen killings is small, the rate can swing wildly from year to year. Still, the Statistics Canada numbers show a marked increase in 2006 from the average rate scored over the previous 10 years.  
 
The agency said one in five youth homicides was gang-related, and more than half of homicides among young people involved more than one accused.  
 
Police agencies have called for tougher sentences for youths convicted of serious crimes to prevent them from reoffending and to send a strong message of deterrence.  
 
They may get their wish, depending on how the federal government follows through on a promise to toughen the Youth Criminal Justice Act.  
 
"We all understand the need for education and prevention programs for young people," Zacharias said.  
 
"But when you get to the point where they are past that and they're in the lifestyle and they're committing serious offences, then there has to be at some point a serious deterrent."  
 
 
---------------  
---------------  
 
Murder rate in Winnipeg up 35% from Last Year  
http://www.winnipeg.ca/crimestat/city.stm  
 
 
Up 160% from last year in the North End of Winnipeg  
http://www.winnipeg.ca/crimestat/d3.stm