http://www.canoe.ca/OttawaNews/os.os-10-02-0013.html
By LAURA CZEKAJ, Ottawa Sun
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THE NATIONAL homicide rate rose slightly last year over the previous two years, with knives accounting for more murders than firearms, Statistics Canada reported yesterday.
Last year, Ottawa reported the second-lowest homicide rate per 100,000 population (0.93) out of the nine largest metropolitan regions but that was still an almost threefold increase over its 2001 homicide rate of 0.35 per 100,000.
Of the 17 mid-sized and smaller metropolitan regions, Gatineau reported one of the highest homicide rates (2.21 per 100,000 population) in 2002. The previous year, Gatineau had one of the lowest homicide rates at 0.75.
"The rate has been gradually declining since the mid-'70s, the two previous years it has stabilized and this year it increased," said Mimi Gauthier, information officer with the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.
Last year's increase in homicides was largely driven by a jump in British Columbia, where there were 126 homicides reported in 2002, up 50% from 84 in 2001. Contributing to the increase were 15 homicides of missing women that occurred in previous years in Port Coquitlam and that were reported by police in 2002.
Statistics Canada also reported that more people were killed with knives than guns last year.
31% STABBED
Stabbings, the most common method in 2002, accounted for 31% of homicides, followed by shootings at 26%, beatings at 21%, and strangulation or suffocation at 11%.
Handguns accounted for two-thirds of the 149 firearm homicides in 2002, up from about one-half during the 1990s and one-third of firearm murders prior to 1990. The 98 homicides committed with handguns last year were consistent with the annual average over the past decade.
The agency reported that there has been a declining trend in the use of rifles and shotguns. They now account for only one-quarter of all firearm homicides.
Thirty-seven homicides were committed with a rifle or shotgun in 2002, substantially fewer than the previous 10-year average of 67. The remaining 14 firearm homicides were committed with other types of firearms.
The drop in the use of firearms to commit murder is partly due to a decline in gang-related killings, said Gauthier.
"We looked at our gang-related homicides and those have dropped quite a bit ... from 61 in 2001 to 45 in 2002."
The agency said police reported 582 homicides, 29 more than in 2001.
As a result, the national homicide rate climbed 4% to 1.85 homicides per 100,000 population, compared with 1.78 in 2001.
Crime and placement
Homicides by city for 2002. The first number represents the number of victims; in brackets is the rate per 100,000 inhabitants:
Population 500,000 or more
Toronto: 90 (1.80)
Montreal: 66 (1.87)
Vancouver: 69 (3.26)
Calgary: 15 (1.52)
Edmonton: 27 (2.79)
Ottawa: 8 (0.93)
Quebec: 3 (0.44)
Winnipeg: 23 (3.41)
Hamilton: 13 (1.97)
Population 250,000 to 499,999
Kitchener: 3 (0.65)
St. Catharines-Niagara region: 8 (1.88)
London, Ont.: 4 (1.05)
Halifax: 5 (1.33)
Windsor: 7 (2.16)
Victoria: 3 (0.93)
Oshawa: 0 (0)
Gatineau: 6 (2.21)
Population 100,000 to 249,999
Saskatoon: 8 (3.41)
Regina: 4 (2.00)
St. John's, Nfld.: 1 (0.57)
Sudbury: 2 (1.26)
Saguenay, Que.: 1 (0.66)
Sherbrooke, Que.: 1 (0.68)
Saint John, N.B.: 2 (1.37)
Trois-Rivieres, Que.: 2 (1.38)
Thunder Bay: 1 (0.79)