Residents often think of Flin Flon as one of Canada’s safest communities, but newly released crime statistics may be calling that romantic notion into question.
While Flin Flon had by far the least crime of northern Manitoba’s three major centres in 2013, the community’s offence rate was double the provincial rate.
“It’s sad to see statistics like this about our community,” said Tim Babcock, a Flin Flon native and city councillor. “Statistics can be misleading, but it would be foolish to believe that crime doesn’t happen. It’s important for each of us to look out for one another and report things that seem out of place.”
Figures from the Canadian Centre for Justice show that Flin Flon recorded a crime rate of 16,754 offences per 100,000 people last year compared to a Manitoba-wide rate of 8,316.
Broad comparison
For a broader contrast, The Reminder compared Flin Flon’s crime rate with those of three similar-sized communities across Canada: Kentville, N.S. (pop. 6,094), Smithers, B.C. (5,404), and Fort Frances, Ont. (7,952).
Flin Flon had a crime rate that was 2.7 times higher than that of Fort Frances and nearly twice that of Kentville. Flin Flon had 12 per cent less crime than Smithers.
When contrasted with its northern neighbours, Flin Flon is, on paper at least, the safest of northern Manitoba’s major centres.
Flin Flon’s per-capita crime rate (16,754) was 3.3 and 2.6 times lower, respectively, than that of The Pas (55,133) and Thompson (43,089).
In terms of violent crime, the difference was even starker, with Flin Flon’s rate (2,081) about three times lower than both The Pas (6,084) and Thompson (5,878).
But Flin Flon’s rate was notably higher – by 13 per cent, in fact – than the Manitoba violent crime rate (1,836).
When it came to break-and-enters, Flin Flon did not stack up favourably against its northern neighbours. Flin Flon had a higher rate (839) than both The Pas (729) and Thompson (755).
However, in past interviews RCMP have noted there are several important factors to keep in mind when considering crime rate comparisons.
Manpower is one example. The Pas and Thompson employ many more Mounties than Flin Flon, creating more opportunities for officers in those communities to detect crime on their own without being summoned.
The size of a populace should be contemplated, too. Using per-capita figures to compare crime across Manitoba (1.27 million people) and Flin Flon (5,592 people) can be problematic since a relatively small number of incidents can significantly impact Flin Flon’s rate.
(Note: Per-capita crime stats for Manitoba, Flin Flon, The Pas and Thompson referenced in this article came directly from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. The stats for Kentville, Smithers and Fort Frances were calculated by The Reminder using the total number of criminal offences in those communities and the latest population figures).
