The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor 'First Nations poverty is the single greatest social issue in Canada today,' Angus Toulose, Regional First Nations Chief of Ontario, said in a 2006 speech. 'Poverty breeds helplessness and hopelessness, which results in far too many of our young men and women committing crimes of despair.' Whether it is poverty, lack of opportunity, alienation or a combination thereof, the elevated crime rates frequently experienced in First Nations communities are an open, tragic secret. While the same group of repeat offenders is often behind many of the offences _ as is the case in non-reserve communities _ there is no denying the severity of the problem. That much is illustrated in stark terms by the newly released 2011 crime figures for the reserves surrounding the Flin Flon-Creighton region. The Reminder obtained from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics the figures for four reserves: Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and Deschambault Lake in Saskatchewan and Pukatawagan in Manitoba. Pelican Narrows had by far the highest crime rate of the four with 140,179 violations per 100,000 population. That is nearly nine times the rate in Flin Flon Pelican Narrows also had the highest per-capita rate of violent crime (26,912), property crime (68,508) and mischief (60,198), among other categories. See 'Sand...' on pg. 12 Continued from pg. 6 For break-and-enters, Pelican Narrows was third (3,022). Sandy Bay, a smaller, more remote reserve northeast of Pelican Narrows, had the second-highest crime rate. It recorded 106,396 violations per 100,000 people _ over six times that of Flin Flon. Sandy Bay had the second-most violent crime of the four reserves (22,543), and was also second for property crime (54,992) and mischief (45,008). It had the most break-and-enters (4,368). Next was Deschambault Lake, another smaller reserve about 140 kilometres from Creighton. It recorded 65,159 violations per 100,000 people _ four times higher than that of Flin Flon. Deschambault Lake was third in violent crime (20,436) and property crime (23,534), but second in break-and-enters (3,601) and fourth in mischief (14,824). Last was Pukatawagan, about 115 kilometres northeast of Flin Flon, with a per-capita crime rate of 50,776. That's just over three times higher than Flin Flon's. Accessible only by air, rail or winter road, Pukatawagan had the least violent (15,512) and property (21,613) crime, and the fewest break-and-enters (2,379). In terms of mischief, Pukatawagan was third (16,701). Of course several factors demand consideration when reviewing this data. For one, the relatively small size of the four reserves means that just a few offences in a category can produce an inflated picture of a particular problem. For instance, although Sandy Bay had the most per-capita break-and-enters, the actual number of incidents, 56, was significantly below that of Flin Flon at 75. Pelican Narrows may have had a per-capita robbery rate 11 times higher than Flin Flon's, but the crime was very rare in both communities, happening once in Flin Flon and four times on the reserve. It is also entirely possible, if not likely, that all four reserves are in fact more populated than the government census suggests. This would skew the per-capita crime rates. Residents of the reserves previously contacted by The Reminder agreed that crime is a concern in their communities but did not want all residents to be painted with the same brush. 'It's the same minority of people who go to jail over and over again, and it's not everybody,' said one Pelican Narrows resident who asked that his name not be published. 'We have good people who want a better place to live for themselves and their families.' More aboriginals are getting educated and finding employment, the resident said, adding that there is still a lot to be proud of in his and other First Nations communities. A long-time resident of Pukatawagan said his reserve also has many people who want a better community, but some social problems need to be overcome. The crime rate in Pelican Narrows dropped nine per cent in 2011 compared to 2010. It was down four per cent in both Pukatawagan and Deschambault Lake. In Sandy Bay, the crime rate was up five per cent. (Note: Most per-capita statistics in this article came directly from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics. However, in the case of Deschambault Lake, the per-capita statistics were calculated by The Reminder using the 2010 and 2011 population figures provided by Statistics Canada).
