Frustration grows as rural Manitoba communities struggle to deal with crime, repeat offenders
CBC
In the past few months, Portage la Prairie has seen more than a dozen people go through the "revolving door" of the justice system and end up accused of repeat offences, the mayor of the small southern Manitoba city says.
"It's frustrating for citizens," said Mayor Sharilyn Knox. "It's affecting their livelihood, their properties, the things that they care about."
Knox says in recent months, about 15 people in the city have been released on conditions after being arrested, then been accused of breaching those conditions and ended up being arrested again.
They're typically accused of petty crimes like shoplifting and property crimes, she said, some of which appear to be fuelled by methamphetamine addiction.
Knox says RCMP have told her they received 148 property crime calls from Portage la Prairie from October to December 2022 — an increase of about 20 per cent from the 125 calls over the same period in 2021.
"We're spending time and money on it," said Knox. "It seems like property crime can be repeat, repeat, repeat before there's sort of anything really significant done."
The city of about 13,000 is one of several southwestern Manitoba communities seeking new ways to tackle crime.
Just over a year ago, Portage la Prairie started working with the province, the justice department, Crown prosecutors and RCMP to create a committee dedicated to tackling the repeat offender issue.
Its goal is to increase communication between all groups to ensure offenders receive not just proper sentences, but also resources and services.
Portage la Prairie was also one of 12 communities that got a total of $1.3 million in provincial funding last April to develop and implement local safety and well-being plans.
Knox says that offers an opportunity to better understand what's still needed to help improve safety in the community, including making sure repeat offenders have the resources they need.
"I just feel that there's a piece missing, where we just don't have the services out there to give people the help they need," Knox said.
"We're at a little bit of a crossroads right now … in our province and in our country, where we need our justice system and our social services systems to line up a little better."
The current state of rural crime is "unsettling," said the president of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities.
With city crews still working away to clear the snow buildup from Thursday and more flurries in the forecast for this weekend, disability advocates in Toronto say there’s not enough support during winter weather events.
A Kamloops, B.C., woman says she’s worried someone could die as a result of hitting one of the large potholes on the Coquihalla Highway between the Lower Mainland and B.C.’s southern interior.
Yukon University staff voted in favour of a strike mandate earlier this month after the two parties failed to reach an agreement at the bargaining table.
The federal government has unveiled the next steps in its national gun buyback program — and Canadians will have about two months to declare their interest in participating in order to receive compensation for turning in outlawed firearms.
Canada wants to look at joint ventures and investments with Chinese companies within the next three years to build a Canadian electric vehicle with Chinese knowledge, according to a senior Canadian official.
A former Alberta RCMP officer has been acquitted of child luring after a judge found reasonable doubt the man believed he was communicating with an underage girl during a “sting by a private citizen.”
Ontario musician Coco Love Alcorn has performed at music festivals and concert halls from coast to coast — but after spending six hours in the hospital ER on her 51st birthday, an unexpected discovery of a cancerous cyst brought her music career to a halt.
Donald Trump barely shrugged when asked about the deal Prime Minister Mark Carney forged with China this week. The U.S. president said such a deal simply made sense.
Two years after a “pause” on new approvals for wind and solar farms was lifted, 14 major renewable energy projects have yet to break ground in southeastern Alberta.
A Calgary-based private equity manager has filed a court application to push the numbered company behind the Stephenville airport into receivership.
Beyond the coast of Nova Scotia’s Sable Island, researchers have discovered a new species that was previously unknown to science.
If Allan Speight wants to make a phone call, he has to drive about eight kilometres down the road to the Welsford Irving gas station.
Quebec’s third-largest city is switching from weekly garbage and recycling collection to every two weeks in a cost-saving move it says is better for the environment. But the plan is getting mixed reaction from residents and opposition councillors.