Crime and punishment

Who to believe? Our Prime minister says one thing. Statistics Canada says another.

The Prime Minister insists, "The safe streets and safe neighbourhoods that Canadians have come to expect as part of our way of life are threatened by rising levels of crime." Stats Can says, "Except for an increase in 2003, the crime rate has generally been falling since 1991 when it peaked."

"The homicide rate is on the rise as well," says Mr. Harper. Says Stats Can, "Canada's homicide rate rose 12 per cent in 2004 after hitting a 36-year low the year before." And then adds, "The violent crime rate fell 2 per cent [in 2004], continuing a general decline since 1992."

According to the people who actually measure such things, we are not experiencing "rising levels of crime," as PM Harper puts it, but quite the opposite. As our population ages, this is exactly what we should expect, crime being principally a young man's game. We should expect the rates of both violent and property crimes to decline, and they are.

That the federal government's approach to crime and punishment will be based on a false perception of reality is profoundly disturbing. More police and prisons and longer sentences are not the answer to crime. We all know what that answer is: ensuring all women have healthy pregnancies, all infants have healthy nurturing, and all children have healthy and challenging environments. Basing our anti-crime programs on false assumptions will lead us away from this toward a false promise. And probably toward more crime.