Think tank targets Statscan’s falling crime rate claim

Think tank targets Statscan’s falling crime rate claim

JOHN IBBITSON

OTTAWA— From Thursday's Globe and Mail

Published Wednesday, Feb. 09, 2011 9:50PM EST

Last updated Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 10:21AM EST

An Ottawa-based think tank has concluded that Statistics Canada’s evidence that crime rates are falling is false, though the government agency stands by its data.

That dispute cuts to the heart of the divisions between Stephen Harper’s government, which is toughening crime laws and expanding prisons, and its opponents, who claim the Conservatives are pushing voters’ panic buttons even though the streets are actually getting safer.

"Serious violent crime is increasing,” contrary to Statistics Canada’s claims, asserts Scott Newark, a former Alberta crown prosecutor who is now a security consultant.

“On the central question of the state’s duty to protect citizens from crime and public disorder, Canadians are not as well served as they should be” by Statscan, he concludes.

The 28-page report for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute strongly criticizes Statscan’s approach to analyzing crime statistics on several fronts:

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