OTTAWA – In his 1996 budget speech, politician Paul Martin said, “Why not decide together that ten years hence our streets will be the safest they can be – not because we have the largest number of prisons or police, but rather because we have faced squarely the sources of crime?” As Torontonians know, and as the numbers show, that was just another broken promise.

Homicide Rate

• In 2004, the homicide rate in Canada was up 12%, with 622 homicides reported, compared to 549 in 2003. (Statistics Canada, July 21, 2005)
• 52 people have been killed by firearms in Toronto in 2005 to date, compared to 27 in all of 2004. (Globe and Mail, December 5, 2005)

Drug Crime Rate

• Cannabis cultivation offences (e.g. marijuana grow-ops) have doubled in the past decade, from 3,400 incidents in 1994 to 8,000 in 2004 (Statistics Canada, July 21, 2005)
• Cocaine incidents increased by 17% in 2004 to almost 17,000 incidents (Statistics Canada, July 21, 2005)

Theft Rate

• Burglary / break and enter rates are higher in Canada than in the United States – roughly 908 per 100,000 in Canada to 741 per 100,000 in the U.S. in 2001 (“Crime Comparisons Between Canada and the United States,” by Marie Gannon, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 2001.)
• Motor vehicle theft rates are higher in Canada than in the United States – roughly 547 per 100,000 in 2001 in Canada versus 475 per 100,000 in the U.S. (“Crime Comparisons Between Canada and the United States,” by Marie Gannon, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 2001.)

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