Canadian Murder Rate Plunged in 2006 on Fewer Gun Homicides By Alexandre Deslongchamps Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's murder rate fell 10 percent in 2006 for the first decline in three years, as the number of homicides using guns dropped for the first time since 2002. Canadian police recorded 605 murders, or 1.85 for every 100,000 of the country's 31.6 million people, from 663 or a rate of 2.05 per 100,000 in 2005, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Homicide by youths rose to the highest since the agency began recording the data, with 2.04 accused killers for every 100,000, and accounted for 15 percent of all murders. The declining homicide rate may make it harder for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to convince Canadians that the country needs tougher laws, as the government said yesterday in its agenda for the new session of Parliament. The governing Conservative Party's plan said Canadians ``feel less safe today and rightly worry about the security of their neighbourhoods.'' Knives were the leading weapons of choice last year, as 35 percent of homicides involved stabbings compared with 31 percent that resulted from gunshots and 19 percent that were beatings. In 2005, 34 percent of Canadian murders involved guns, the highest since 2000, and 30 percent used knives. The overall murder rate is still higher than in 2003, when it fell to the lowest in more than three decades, or a rate 1.73 per 100,000 people. Canada's homicide rate is about two- thirds lower than in the U.S. and also lower than in Germany or Switzerland. Singapore has the world's lowest homicide rate, with 0.38 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Gang-related murders accounted for one-sixth of Canada's homicides, or 104, little changed from 106 in 2005. The number of murders fell in all provinces except British Columbia and Prince Edward Island. Quebec recorded its lowest homicide rate in 40 years with 1.22 per 100,000 people. Saskatchewan kept the highest, with 4.06 homicides per 100,000. Thirty-seven percent of homicide victims in Canada were killed by a family member, from 32 percent in 2005, and 17 percent were killed by a spouse or former spouse. A fifth of all victims were killed by casual acquaintances, and 12 percent were murdered by criminal accomplices http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=a3noJ7ZnOfE8&refer=canada