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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 4:04 PM
Devon Devon is offline
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Regina`s Issues

These articles were in the Leaderpost today. They may or may not spark discussion...


REGINA — Regina had the highest violent crime victimization rate among metropolitan centres in a recent survey, while Saskatchewan was second only to Manitoba on a provincial basis, according to a new report from Statistics Canada.

The 2009 General Social Survey — which measures how many Canadians aged 15 and older reported being a victim of crime in the 12 months prior — found that self-reported rates of both violent and household crimes are generally highest in the Western provinces.

The average violent victimization rate — which includes physical and sexual assault and robbery — was 118 per 1,000 population. In Saskatchewan, the figure was 159.

Among census metropolitan areas for which data was available, Regina respondents reported the highest rate of violent victimization, at close to double the rate of other centres. Saskatoon's rate was not included because the data was deemed too unreliable.

Regina also had one of the highest rates of household victimization, which includes incidents such as break-and-enters and thefts of vehicles or household property.

The federal agency noted that younger Canadians reported higher rates of violent victimization, while rates of victimization were also higher among certain groups.

"For example, individuals who identified themselves as Aboriginal were twice as likely as the non-Aboriginal population to report being a victim of a violent offence," Statistics Canada said.

Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice senior policy analyst David Gullickson said that, despite the latest numbers, there are some encouraging signs for the province. Notably, the crime severity index — a measure of police-reported crime — has been dropping here over the past five years.

"This suggests that our initiatives are working and we're headed in the right direction. All the same, as this study shows ... there's much more to do," Gullickson said.

Violent crime rates are "stubbornly high. We've got some real challenges and we need to be transparent about that," he said.

In mandate letters handed out earlier this year, the provincial ministers of justice and corrections, public safety and policing were tasked with pursuing a violent crime reduction strategy.

The government is also looking at ways to "expand and enhance" programs and services for victims of crime, Gullickson said.

Regina City Police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich said the victimization numbers don't paint an entirely new picture for city police but are still useful in helping the force "ask better questions, look at areas where we may direct resources."

"Really the numbers, and the recognition of the work that we have to do, and the fact that those statistics represent real people, are things that we deal with every day," Popowich said.

The survey found that, overall, 27 per cent of Canadians said they had been a victim of a criminal incident in the last 12 months, a proportion unchanged from the last survey in 2004.

Violent incidents accounted for 30 per cent of the self-reported incidents.

But the amount of victimizations that were forward to police agencies was down in 2009. Only 31 per cent of crime victims said they took their cases to police, a drop from 34 per cent in 2004.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of respondents still said they felt somewhat or very satisfied with their personal safety from crime.

ahall@leaderpost.com
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post


Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Regin...#ixzz10w2Y36k4
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  #2  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 4:07 PM
Devon Devon is offline
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REGINA — The growing issue of homelessness in Regina will be discussed during a series of conversations sponsored by the Regina Urban Aboriginal Strategy.

The first in the series, "The face of homelessness in Regina", will take place today at the German Club.

The discussion's aim is to identify the problem as it exists in Regina, said Cora Sellers, co-ordinator for the Strategy.

"We heard from our community that homelessness is an issue and one they'd like to deal with," said Sellers.

Dan Lindsay, co-ordinator for the youth express program at the Rainbow Youth Centre, will be on the panel. Lindsay said homelessness is something that needs to be addressed at the grassroots community level because that's where the solutions will come from.

Lindsay thinks the problem has caught everyone off guard. There is a lack of awareness of what it means to be homeless, he said, so discussions of the problem have only touched the surface.

"Today [homelessness] is families, the working poor, people that actually have jobs working at minimum wage and can't afford the rent," said Lindsay.

He hopes the discussions draw awareness to the new reality of the "hidden homeless".

Homelessness is not a problem Saskatchewan has ever faced in volume before, according to Lindsay.

"We've not been one of the provinces where people flock to in droves," he said. "We're where people flocked away from."

The influx of people moving to Saskatchewan put a strain on organizations like the food bank. Homeless shelters have waiting lists because Regina has the lowest vacancy rate in the country, said Lindsay.

"About a month ago, the closest bed we could get for a mother in a transition house was in Calgary," said Lindsay, adding that all of Regina's social services are maxed right now.

There is no easy solution, he said, but it's cheaper to house people than it is to leave them homeless and pump money into shelters and other social institutions.

"We're past the point of crisis," said Lindsay.

For his organization, it's like the little boy putting his finger in the dyke.

"You get some holes patched up and as you're patching those up, there's other holes sprouting," he added.

To participate in the discussion, stop by the German Club — 1727 St. John St.— at 1 p.m. today.

The following discussions will look at service providers and solutions.

jwaitt@leaderpost.com
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post


Read more: http://www.leaderpost.com/news/Regin...#ixzz10w3Q17Ra
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  #3  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 4:09 PM
Devon Devon is offline
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"The influx of people moving to Saskatchewan put a strain on organizations like the food bank. Homeless shelters have waiting lists because Regina has the lowest vacancy rate in the country", said Lindsay.


Why does it seem like in every category this City has the lowest or one of the lowest Vacancy rates for everything. Office space, homeless shelters and just a couple years ago I heard hotels were lacking as well...
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 4:13 PM
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I also think this thread could be used for any discussion on things going on in Regina that really frustrate or make you angry!
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  #5  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 4:21 PM
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I also think this thread could be used for any discussion on things going on in Regina that really frustrate or make you angry!
???

Things going to well around Regina for you? Had to go fish out some dirt?

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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 4:49 PM
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???

Things going to well around Regina for you? Had to go fish out some dirt?

Why? What is wrong with this kind of thread? One was also started about Winnipeg and I think it brings out the issues and gets people talking about them instead of wearing rosy colored glasses and pretending everything is perfect where you live. I hope to see one started up for Saskatoon as well!
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 5:12 PM
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Wouldn't put too much stock in this particular StatsCan General Social Survey when it comes to the rates (per 1000) we see in the Census Metropolitan Areas. Besides the fact that the GSS is voluntary, for CMAs as an individual strata, the sampling isn't quite enough to be all that reliable (with the exception of the few largest population centres).

Within the table indicating CMAs in the official report, StatsCan has a notation to exercise caution with most every CMA where a rate is reported (including Regina). It also withheld many other CMAs for lack of reliability (again, likely sampling amounts in relation to the CMA population). There is an additional note that further caution should be exercised when comparing CMAs, as not all (in fact, most) are not statistically significant.

It comes as no real surprise that the article posted at the top of this page does not mention that StatsCan has cautionary notes regarding the reliability of the stats from the Regina (and other) CMAs, as well as the poor reliability when comparing CMAs.

IMO, the much more reliable StatsCan release regarding the state of crime in Canada and the reporting of crime by CMAs, is the Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, released annually. Additional, by virtue, victimization statistics should not be considered as an indicator of overall crime rates. We also must consider that one's perception of victimization does not imply that a criminal code infraction has occurred. There would also likely be substantial degrees of what constitutes victimization by individual perception (ie: an old lady who gets bumped into at the supermarket in the rush to the shelf of canned meat on sale may positively indicate in responding to this survey that she was, indeed, a victim in the past year; another individual with the same experience may brush-off such a triviality and forget about it).

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/85-002-.../11340-eng.pdf

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/cgi-bin/imd...db&adm=8&dis=2

Last edited by DowntownWpg; Sep 29, 2010 at 6:13 PM.
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  #8  
Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 8:15 PM
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The fact remains that Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg have horrible crime rates, and are among the top five for this in the country. Much of this is attributed to the high aboriginal rates these cities have. Edmonton isn't far behind. These threads shouldn't be meant to bash cities, but to get people talking on how to bring these issues under control. Otherwise, these cities will suffer in the long run because of this, and so far all three of them are.
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 8:27 PM
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Rose colored glasses are standard issue in Saskatoon. The City includes them with our monthly utility bill hahaha

In all seriousness, these threads are a good idea. Not everyone is narrowly focused on the latest surface parking lot in their city.
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 9:08 PM
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Originally Posted by RTD
The fact remains that Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg have horrible crime rates, and are among the top five for this in the country. Much of this is attributed to the high aboriginal rates these cities have. Edmonton isn't far behind. These threads shouldn't be meant to bash cities, but to get people talking on how to bring these issues under control. Otherwise, these cities will suffer in the long run because of this, and so far all three of them are.
Our governments, the social work industry, and the "human rights" industry in Canada are very much (though not entirely) to blame. And indeed, we can see the problems they have perpetuated especially in the cities you mentioned that have the highest per capita Aboriginal populations of the large (100K+ pop) Canadian cities.

The governments and these industries have certainly added much fuel to the fires, so to speak. They perpetuate a victim mentality, offer a 'special deal' to people based on their ethnicity, and all the while are actually instilling an 'us vs. them' way of thinking. They also utilize and sanction stereotypes, such as 'if you're an Aboriginal, you are suffering from the Residential School Effect, Colonization, cultural barriers to services, etc, etc, etc.' This has likely led to group-think where a prevailing opinion may either be 'why bother trying/an individual effort won't change the problems I've been socially ingrained with since I was a fetus' or 'I'll do whatever I damn well want, to hell with the law since I've got a raw deal anyway.' Both of these attitudes can easily lead to addiction, being on social welfare by choice not by necessity, and committing crimes.

Quite worried that this could all be leading-up to large ethnic-based/Aboriginal riots in Winnipeg, Regina, and Saskatoon. The 'us vs. them' mentality is only going to get worse, as the levels of government and the social work and human rights industries continue to believe that their views of ultra political correctness and 'progressive' ethnic-based policy is somehow a remedy to the situation. Quite the opposite, actually. If Martin Luther King Jr. could see how we're doing social policy up here in Canada, he'd be rolling in his grave.

Promoting such flawed ideals is trendy nowadays. For instance, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights has openly celebrated the support they received from Aboriginal groups (Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and the Union of Ontario Indians) who have a history of promoting and organizing insurgency within Canada. No way do special interest groups publicly lend their support to anything, without assurances that it will be in keeping with and promote their views. In fact, in the long-term, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and human rights commissions/tribunals, or the 'social work mentality,' will only contribute to the ethnic tensions and to probable further insurrectionist activities or full-out rioting by Aboriginals. We'll be thinking fondly of the days when muggings where among the greatest concerns on the streets regarding violent crime.

Anyway, the best thing would be to treat all individuals as individuals, no 'special deals' based on ethnicity and no further instilling of an 'us vs. them' mentality through sanctioning stereotypes and instilling 'being born a victim.' Social policy and services should have all of its ethnic-based and racist elements removed. This would be a much better way to bring forward the environment where people put in an individual effort rather than take action (or no action) using the victim mentality, etc, as a scapegoat. Unfortunately, it could be too late for the cities in MB and Sask, hopefully not, but nonetheless it is wise keep a close eye on this stuff.

Last edited by DowntownWpg; Sep 29, 2010 at 9:30 PM.
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 9:19 PM
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Much of this is attributed to the high aboriginal rates these cities have.
Even though I partially agree, this is racist & inappropriate.

To be more accurate, the problem with these cities are the high rates of poverty & welfare. People (of ALL races) in these classes are incredibly bad influences on our cities.
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 9:32 PM
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Even though I partially agree, this is racist & inappropriate.
I'm sure you know that this wasn't meant to be racist, but too many people are afraid to bring up this FACT (they see it as being insensitive or not politically correct or whatever), as I have seen stats regarding crime across the prairies, and they show that the majority of crime is caused by Aboriginals, likely due to a multitude of reasons. That is the sad reality of the situation, and this needs to be addressed asap.
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 10:12 PM
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Even though I partially agree, this is racist & inappropriate.

To be more accurate, the problem with these cities are the high rates of poverty & welfare. People (of ALL races) in these classes are incredibly bad influences on our cities.
And THIS is the reason why western canada has such a problem. To solve it we must discuss it, but we cant discuss it because people like you prevent this dialouge from taking place.

Solving problems isn't rainbows and unicorns.
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Old Posted Sep 29, 2010, 11:32 PM
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"The influx of people moving to Saskatchewan put a strain on organizations like the food bank. Homeless shelters have waiting lists because Regina has the lowest vacancy rate in the country", said Lindsay.


Why does it seem like in every category this City has the lowest or one of the lowest Vacancy rates for everything. Office space, homeless shelters and just a couple years ago I heard hotels were lacking as well...
Many of the "problems" like low office vacancies, low rental vacancies, not enough hotels, and unfortunately homeless shelters is a result of Regina growing like never before. This is an incredible opportunity for the City and province, and I hope that the politicians don't just hope the boom ends soon so that they can avoid having to spend money on more homeless shelters.
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Old Posted Sep 30, 2010, 3:56 AM
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And THIS is the reason why western canada has such a problem. To solve it we must discuss it, but we cant discuss it because people like you prevent this dialouge from taking place.

Solving problems isn't rainbows and unicorns.
And people like you completely miss the point. There are reasons why Aboriginal people factor so much in crime rates. So let's discuss that and avoid blanket statements like RTD's, "Much of this is attributed to the high aboriginal rates these cities have.".
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Old Posted Sep 30, 2010, 1:37 PM
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And people like you completely miss the point. There are reasons why Aboriginal people factor so much in crime rates. So let's discuss that and avoid blanket statements like RTD's, "Much of this is attributed to the high aboriginal rates these cities have.".
but he's right. Blanket politically correct statements like "poverty and welfare in all races" don't target the group that needs the most help (and need to get their shit together) because poor natives have different needs from other poor groups.
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Old Posted Sep 30, 2010, 4:32 PM
Dan0myte Dan0myte is offline
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but he's right. Blanket politically correct statements like "poverty and welfare in all races" don't target the group that needs the most help (and need to get their shit together) because poor natives have different needs from other poor groups.
What does the color of their skin have to do with how much help they need? A native guy with $5 in his bank account and a white guy with $5 in his bank account are both equally in trouble and are equally desperate for a quick solution to their problem, leading to crime. Crime is faceless & is equally tempting to anyone with problems.
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Old Posted Sep 30, 2010, 6:52 PM
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Exactly, the forces/issues at work causing crime know no cultural bounds, so we can't "[attribute it] to the high aboriginal rates". That's missing a step logically, which is too simple and dismissive of the root issues.
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Old Posted Sep 30, 2010, 7:16 PM
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At some point though, the higher percentage of people who are both aboriginal and living in poverty needs to be highlighted.

Yes poverty doesn't know skin colour, BUT in MB/SK/AB I think we all know that aboriginals face both poverty and social issues that are at far higher per-capita rates than any other "ethnic" group.

This isn't racist, it's just reality. So if poverty is affecting one group of people far more frequently that another, shouldn't we tailor solutions/efforts/attention to that group of people more so than others?
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Old Posted Sep 30, 2010, 7:48 PM
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At some point though, the higher percentage of people who are both aboriginal and living in poverty needs to be highlighted.

Yes poverty doesn't know skin colour, BUT in MB/SK/AB I think we all know that aboriginals face both poverty and social issues that are at far higher per-capita rates than any other "ethnic" group.

This isn't racist, it's just reality. So if poverty is affecting one group of people far more frequently that another, shouldn't we tailor solutions/efforts/attention to that group of people more so than others?
This I have no problem with. If we can identify, and in this case we can, that a specific subset of the population factors heavily in the root causes leading to crime, then by all means lets discuss and tailor solutions to that subset. To para-phrase, this is a "Aboriginal people -> solutions for -> poverty -> which leads to -> crime" discussion.

What I have a problem with is the "Aboriginal people -> cause of -> crime" mindset. To say, "Much of this is attributed to the high aboriginal rates these cities have.", is putting the cart before the horse.
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