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Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

nationalpost.com

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Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#31

Post by VHRanger »

How is HN falling for this again, barely 24h after the Bob Lee story showed how this forum is prone to these narratives?

The very first link in the article from StatsCan is "Canada's crime rate: Two decades of decline". It says the opposite of what the NP article is quoting it for.

This misquotation is followed by a series of anectodes, and backed up by the intellectual weight of... an opinion survey.

The multiple of anecdote is not "data".

The correct title for this article is "people believe there is an increase in crime", for which articles like this is the reason.

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#32

Post by morkalork »

The housing market is so tight that crack houses sell for $1M in major cities. Problem is, it's not like the junkies and squatters disappear after that. They move into public spaces like parks and metro stations which causes conflict and violence that the general public now sees. It seems like every day there's stories of a stabbing or whatever happening on a bus or train.

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#33

Post by outlace »

zawaideh wrote: post #13

30 years of cuts to social safety nets, and life becoming affordable will do that. When as a country we prefer funding more policing, and less on affordable housing, healthcare, and education, we end up with a crisis like this. The fact that people act surprised is mind boggling. People have been warning about this for decades. I fear that this is only the start of a worsening trend.

Honest question here: How does poverty imply violent crime? I’ve been to impoverished areas of China and it was safer than any place in the US for example. I don’t see how when someone is struggling with poverty that will increase their probability of engaging in violence.

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#34

Post by njovin »

joenot443 wrote: post #23

> Chief among this escalation was the killing of eight on-duty Canadian police officers in just the last six months. For context, between 1961 and 2009, a grand total of 133 Canadian police officers were murdered in the line of duty – an average of one every four and a half months. Imagine my surprise that years of ACAB and calls to defund the police would lead slain officers. It's depressing to me as a Canadian that…

I can't speak for Canada, but for the US I think it's important to acknowledge that leading up to (and beyond) the "years of ACAB and calls to defund the police" we had/have rampant police corruption and lack of accountability.

I don't agree with ACAB but I also don't think enough departments are doing enough to clean house despite the light that body cams are beginning to shine on these previously-hidden practices.

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#35

Post by sbaiddn »

revolvingocelot wrote: post #14

The whole west is seeing a rise in violent crime rates. The National Post is owned by PostMedia, Canada's right-wing Borglike media conglomerate, which also owns the other major papers -- except the Toronto Star, which has only been owned by right wing businessmen since 2020. Kinda reminds me of when American media blames the President for conditions which pertain worldwide, in that the point of the article isn't to…

I don't get this. The whole (western) world is sinking, including my country x but I cant notice or complain that my country x is sinking if I'm conservative and every other western country is sinking?

Could every sinking country have something in common... like being a Western country?

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#36

Post by slashdev »

The article talks about closure of mental hospitals and an increase in violence. But, unless I missed it they didn’t make a connection between the two. I don’t think any of the killings of the 8 police officers in the article were done by medically ill people. Yes the mentally ill can be violent, but I don’t think that’s behind the increase in violence here, and it’s disingenuous to report it this way, as if it is, with no evidence to back it up.

It may well be related to the catch and release policy with repeat offenders. Criminals are going back onto the street and committing crimes again and laughing at the police when they get arrested. That unsurprisingly will lead to more crime, but if it leads to more violence is also not established by the article. We’ve seen these kinds of policies all over in liberal strongholds in the US and Canada, and it seems insane to me. I spent three months in Manhattan and it was eye opening. I had to ask someone to come unlock the toothpaste at Walgreens. Another time I went to target to buy ground beef, only to discover they’d just been robbed of all of their meat. I live in the developing world, where there is real poverty, and high levels of violent crime, but I’ve never seen anything like that.

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#37

Post by neom »

Bob Rae focused on a lot of important issues, his 1991 budget was extremely well thought out, focusing heavily on integrated neighborhoods, low income housing, and social security, he wanted to make sure that fast forward, Ontario didn't turn into a total nightmare. Well, here we are. I'll never forgive Mike Harris for what he did to the province.

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#39

Post by torstenvl »

voisin wrote: post #11
causi wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's remarkably difficult to find good data comparing the "generous safety net" approach to the "tough love" approach in terms of effects on homelessness, poverty, and crime.

Tough love approach to crime I understand, but what’s the tough love approach to poverty and homelessness?

To continue receiving benefits, you must undergo continuous, invasive evaluation. If you receive a housing benefit, you are subject to home inspections, etc.

Re: Canada is seeing violent crime like never before. What's behind the crime wave

#40

Post by Pxtl »

voisin wrote: post #15
Pxtl wrote: post #8

Note that National Post is a very conservative publication, and as such is going to have a bias for "tough on crime" solutions. It is not surprising that this article chooses to focus on bail reform. Personally, i notice that the sudden rise in crime happened almost exactly at the same time as the fact that rents jumped out of reach for many people. The fact that the spike in random violence appeared at the same time…

> happened almost exactly at the same time as the fact that rents jumped out of reach for many people. Bingo. But if you accept this as causation than fault lies in at the feet of an inept government and central bank and not the individuals stressed to the max by a society built to ensure zero social mobility and widening wealth inequality.

I primarily blame municipal governments for the housing crisis, with a secondary finger pointed at the provincial governments that have the constitutional power to override bad municipal decisions.

This is the fruit of NIMBYism, same as in California.

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