Sometimes when people think about the problem of crime they think about it as an urban concern. In fact, historically, when pollsters asked rural residents what their primary concern was, crime usually came well down the list. Not anymore.
While the issue of crime has been the number one concern among residents of Winnipeg for the past few years, several recent polls have shown that it’s at or near the top of concerns for residents in rural Manitoba as well.
For many, this concern comes from an increase in property crime. The theft or destruction of personal property leaves both an economic hardship and an emotional one with the feeling of an invasion of personal space. Other rural Manitobans are concerned about the increase in the availability of drugs in their schools and the impact that it has on their children and grandchildren.
There is also the reality that, in Manitoba, crimes such as armed robberies which were once thought of as happening only in large cities have become all too common in smaller rural communities. In our own region, we have seen recent armed robberies involving accused in their early teens. Those who would say that the concern over crime is simply a result of media driven hysteria don’t give enough credit to Manitobans who see first hand how things have changed in their own communities.
The provincial NDP government, who promised when elected in 1999 to make our communities safer, spend most of their energy trying to convince Manitobans that every province has the same issue with crime. In reality, while there is of course crime in every province, Manitoba leads the way in violent crime. And while violent crime is decreasing in almost every other province, it is increasing here.
When polls are done in other provinces, crime is rarely the top concern of residents. Only Manitobans, rural and urban, consistently identify crime as a top concern. And it’s because of the reality they see. They don’t see things getting better, they see things getting worse. The concern they express is a reflection of the real statistics, the horrible stories and what they see first hand in their own communities.
The concern that Manitobans express about crime isn’t a product of the media. It’s a product of reality. And it is a reality that the NDP government in Manitoba has tried to manage with tough talk and shallow announcements. No doubt there will be more of these announcements from the NDP leading up to October’s election. But Manitobans, whether they live in Winnipeg or rural Manitoba, have to ask themselves a simple question. If the NDP haven’t been serious about reducing crime for the past 11 years, why would they be serious about it now?
