It is another sad statistic — the vast majority of murders in Regina involve Aboriginal victims and in most cases the accused is also Aboriginal. They are the people behind the latest numbers that give Regina the dubious distinction of being the murder capital of Canada.
There were 10 murders in Regina last year. Ninety per cent of the victims were Aboriginal, five were men and five were women. The average age was 37.
Of those charged with the murders, 67 per cent were Aboriginal, 22 per cent were Caucasian and one was black. Eight suspects were men and one was a woman. The average age of the accused was 32.
Jaquiline Anaquod is an organizer with Sisters in Spirit which has been pushing for an inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
“We have to add five more names to the list and we are still not into 2015,” she says. “How many more names will we have to add to the list?”
Among the murders is the case of Regina’s first-ever accused serial killer. Clayton Bo Eichler is white. He is accused of murdering two Aboriginal women in separate incidents.
Winnipeg had the second-highest murder rate in Canada, followed by Thunder Bay.
Looking at the provincial numbers for 2013, there were 30 murders in Saskatchewan last year — the second-highest rate in Canada behind Manitoba.
Nationally, guns were used in 131 murders last year, down 41 per cent. However, the number of knife attacks were up. There were 195 fatal stabbings, up about 19 per cent.
The national murder rate last year was 1.44 for every 100,000 people. Regina’s rate was 3.84, more than twice the national average.