Nunavut led the nation in violent offenses in 2021, says Statistics Canada report

Key takeaways: 

• The territories also ranked highest in offense severity, the new analysis shows.
• The 2020-2021 report revealed the N.W.T. had the highest overall C.S.I., with Nunavut in second standing, followed by Yukon.

According to a report released by Statistics Canada on Tuesday, Nunavut has the most increased rate of a police-reported violent offenses in Canada.

The report looked at the severity of police-reported crime in 2020-2021 and saw that Nunavut was among the Canadian jurisdictions that saw an expansion in its Crime Severity Index (C.S.I.), which measures the overall seriousness of police-reported crime from one year.

“As has been the issue since 1998,” the report reads in part, “the Prairie regions and British Columbia have had the highest C.S.I.s among the regions, while the three domains have reported the highest C.S.I.s overall.”

The 2020-2021 report revealed the N.W.T. had the highest overall C.S.I., with Nunavut in second standing, followed by Yukon.

But the violent offense severity index was almost six times higher in Nunavut than overall in Canada and more significant than in the N.W.T. or Yukon.

Also read: Yukon’s medical travel assistance is still nowhere near enough, critics say

Gregory Moreau, a critic of Statistics Canada and the report’s writer, is a common link between the three domains and their remoteness and small population.

The three territories also led to offense, which was approximately five times higher in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut than in the remainder of Canada, with Yukon close behind, according to Moreau’s report, which is based on Criminal Code happenings, excluding traffic offenses.

His report looked at specific breaches, such as killing, sexual assault, breaking, and trends in youth charged with a crime.

While not incorporated in the report, Moreau added that the three territories also led Canadian jurisdictions in firearms crimes and weapons violations.

Of the three parts, Nunavut had the highest sexual offenses against minors rate in 2021, although the rate was down about seven percent from 2020.

Source – CBC News