Newly released data on the rise of violent crime across Canada only tells part of the story, a national police organization says.
The volume and severity of police-reported crime has been on “an upward trend that began in 2015,” Statistics Canada said in a report released last week.
The violent crime severity index “remained virtually unchanged” last year, the statistics agency said, because there was a decline in more serious crimes such as homicide. However, there was nearly a seven per cent increase in violent crimes such as assault, robbery and extortion, Statistics Canada said.
But the National Police Federation (NPF), the union representing roughly 20,000 RCMP members, says the data may not fully reflect the true picture of crime rates across the country — something Statistics Canada itself also notes.
“One firearm robbery in a small town in, say, Saskatchewan skews the data with respect to violent crime in Saskatchewan as a whole,” NPF president and CEO Brian Sauvé told Global News in an interview.
“Saskatchewan has a lot of small towns. But does that make Saskatchewan a particularly violent province?”
The overall crime severity index was up two per cent in 2023, the Statistics Canada report shows, marking a third straight annual increase.
The non-violent crime severity index rose three per cent last year, after a five per cent increase the year before. The most recent raise was driven by a five per cent bump in police-reported motor vehicle theft — a topic of growing concern and attention over the past year — and double-digit spikes in fraud and shoplifting.
When it comes to violent crime, the severity index increased 32 per cent since 2015, which the Conservatives emphasize was when the current Liberal government was first elected.
The new data also appears to back up another Conservative talking point: that total violent Criminal Code violations reported to police have increased nearly 50 per cent since 2015.
“Total violent Criminal Code violations” is an umbrella term that includes homicides, attempted murder, assaults including sexual assault, robberies and kidnappings.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Thursday blamed the increases in crime on current government policies, blaming both the governing Liberals and the NDP, who have supported the Liberals in key confidence votes for the last two years.
Sauvé says he’s heard “frustration” from RCMP members of the NPF that they are being increasingly called on to deal with not just crime, but also growing mental health incidents and drug overdoses.
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He said all levels of government are to blame for reductions in supports and the lack of “robust public safety continuum plans” to ensure people aren’t resorting to crime or violence.
“There’s a growing desperation among people … where they may not be able to meet their rent for the month and feel they have no choice but to resort to something drastic,” he said.
“The real question isn’t ‘why is there more crime’ but ‘why are people more dissatisfied with their lot in life?’”
Several recent surveys have suggested Canadians are growing increasingly concerned about their personal finances amid the rising cost of living, including high inflation and interest rates.
Bail policies under fire again
Poilievre on Thursday also pointed to the recent killing of 17-year-old Breanna Broadfoot, 17, who police say was a victim of intimate partner violence. The Conservative leader said the suspect had previously been arrested, but was released before the fatal attack on Broadfoot.
“She is just the latest victim of the radical, Liberal-NDP wacko catch-and-release justice system,” Poilievre said at a news conference in front of a school playground.
“It allows the same repeat violent offenders to go free again and again.”
Last year, the Liberal government collaborated with all provinces and territories to make changes to the bail system, following growing calls from premiers and provincial and territorial justice ministers for strengthened laws after reports of crimes committed by chronic reoffenders.
The new changes require defendants who have been arrested and charged with certain offences to prove to the court why they should be released, instead of the Crown having to prove why they should stay behind bars.
A week ago, premiers wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling for another review of the bail system, in light of another recent stabbing death of a woman last month in British Columbia.
Tori Dunn, 30, was killed in her home in Surrey, B.C., in June. The suspect had a long and violent criminal history and had been released just weeks before she was killed.
“Last year’s amendments to federal bail legislation represent valuable progress, but recent troubling incidents suggest this legislation may not be functioning as intended,” the premiers said in a joint statement after meeting in Halifax.
Justice Minister Arif Virani offered condolences to Broadfoot’s family on Thursday “for the heartbreaking tragedy that should have never happened,” but put the blame on the provinces.
“We’ve acted on the provinces’ calls for stronger Criminal Code measures. Now it’s time for them to enforce the law effectively,” Virani said in a statement with Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc Thursday.
Sauvé said the NPF has also called on the provinces and territories to do their part in boosting court and corrections services in their jurisdictions in order to properly implement the “second half of the equation” of bail reform — the first half being the federal changes.
Poilievre has promised if he becomes prime minister he will prevent repeat violent offenders from being eligible for bail, house arrest, probation or parole. He also pledges to stop the flow of federally regulated drugs, commonly referred to as safer supply, and close supervised consumption sites near schools, redirecting federal funds for those services toward treatment and recovery services.
The New Democrats deny having any part in contributing to the increased crime rate because they are not in government.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has said bail reform cannot be the only solution to keep communities safe. New Democrats have called for better supervision of people who are released on bail, and stronger support for people experiencing mental health and addiction.
—With files from the Canadian Press