(Left to right, front row) Prince George City Councillor Trudy Klassen, Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook, North Battleford Mayor David Gillan, Yorkton Mayor Mitch Hippsley, Sweetgrass First Nation Chief Lorie Whitecalf, Wetaskiwin Mayor Tyler Granam, Back Row: Langley City Councillor Paul Albrecht, Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers, Langley City Councillor Delaney Mack, North Battleford Councillor Thomas “Bill” Ironstand, Portage La Prairie Mayor Sharilyn Knox, Portage La Prairie Councillor Colin Doyle, North Battleford Councillor Kelli Hawtin, Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland. (Submitted photo/City of North Battleford)

By Angela Brown

National statistics

Several Western Canadian cities ask Stats Can to halt release of CSI rankings

Feb 29, 2024 | 6:21 PM

A municipal leaders conference discussing the negative impact on smaller cities from the Crime Severity Index (CSI) concluded on Thursday.

Representatives from 11 communities across Western Canada met over the past two says in Saskatoon, along with representatives from Statistics Canada, the RCMP, First Nations, and academics.

The communities participating ranked high on the CSI.

The 2023 CSI’s report ranked North Battleford first out of 330 communities with an overall CSI value of 557.1 compared to the national average of 78.1 while Prince Albert ranked fourth on the list with an overall CSI of 302.2.

The City of North Battleford previously noted if there was no threshold of 10,000 and greater population for the CSI rankings, North Battleford in particular would not be number one on the list. Instead, it would rank 16th in Saskatchewan.

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“We’re here to issue a formal request to Statistics Canada to halt the release of the annual Crime Severity Index rankings until future consultations are held with smaller communities and Indigenous leadership,” Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers said during a press conference Thursday. “This report that’s published by Statistics Canada is detrimental to the communities, First Nation communities and many communities throughout Western Canada represented here today, as well as many others.”

It was noted that data provided by Statistics Canada in the dissemination of the Crime Severity Index rankings for communities with populations of over 10,000 “has been categorically misinterpreted and misunderstood by the general public and media, leading to inappropriate and improper application of the data, and, without a broad understanding of its true meaning, is not a true measure of a community’s safety.”

Aalbers said the CSI rankings are detrimental to smaller communities and Indigenous leadership.

“The communities unanimously supported the formal request for change in reporting to Statistics Canada for several reasons, including significant economic damage to our communities, including stagnant population numbers, and struggles to attract new business by driving away investment and recruitment, and creating fear and division that Statistics [Canada] perpetuates, the very trends it reports on,” Aalbers said.

He noted some communities even have a problem trying to attract junior hockey players because parents are concerned about the CSI rankings.

Aalbers said over 10,000 population is the target Statistics Canada has set unfortunately.

He added that the leaders present were also concerned the CSI index is a tool that ultimately “promotes systemic racism.”

North Battleford Mayor David Gillan said the CSI has many limitations, and hopes the conference is the first step in trying to see changes ahead.

He questions why smaller communities are “pitted directly against other larger metropolitan centres.”

“We really believe after 15 years of this index being out there in the public we needed to reiterate or give feedback to Stats Canada that it’s not working for small communities in Western Canada… It affects every part of our community,” he said. “It’s a tremendous black cloud in our community. We can’t grow, we can’t attract business, we can’t attract professionals.”

Gillan added that the communities are united in their position and will “grow our membership” to add more municipalities who couldn’t attend the meeting.

“We want change,” he said. “We want real change. As political leaders, we’re going to talk to political heads in Ottawa. We’re also going to talk to the chiefs of police association nationally, that controls or at least in consort with Stats Canada is going to make decisions about adjusting or changing the model of how crime statistics are collected and reported.”

Sweetgrass First Nation Chief Lorie Whitecalf said there is also an impact on First Nation communities from the negative CSI rankings. Her community is 26 km from the Battlefords.

“When that Crime Severity Index is released and [North Battleford] is very high or Number 1, a lot of times the First Nations in the communities surrounding the area are blamed,” she said. “I as the chief of Sweetgrass First Nation encourage other First Nations not to take that blame. We have to work on solutions collectively, the solutions to the social problems and the social issues and our broken history with Canada needs to be fixed.”

She also believes the CSI rankings are a step back in reconciliation efforts.

Whitecalf said when the CSI is released and issues of racism and division in the community increase, she said to her that’s a sign it’s important for leaders to come together to look to “solve the issue collaboratively.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow