The Statistics Canada offices in Ottawa are pictured, May 1, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Republished December 01, 2014 - 6:09 AM
Original Publication Date December 01, 2014 - 1:35 AM
OTTAWA - We'll find out today whether the downward trend continues for the number of the most serious crimes committed in Canada — homicides.
Statistics Canada will release the homicide figures for 2013, numbers the agency's been collecting since 1961.
Last year, the homicide rate for 2012 was reported to be the lowest in 46 years.
That came after the downward slide was broken temporarily in 2011 when police reported homicides had increased.
In total, Canadian police services reported 543 homicides in 2012, 55 fewer than the previous year.
Homicides account for less than one per cent of the serious crimes committed in Canada.
Here are some other events expected in and around Ottawa today:
— The Commons national security committee meets for clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-44, the Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act;
— Bloc MPs Louis Plamondon and Mario Beaulieu hold a news conference to talk about the journalistic independence of the CBC.
— Comedian Brent Butt, along with the cast of the television series Corner Gas, join Heritage Minister Shelly Glover and MPs on the red carpet at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., for the premiere of Corner Gas: The Movie.
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News from © The Canadian Press, 2014