Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to present to the committee regarding Bill C-26.
Statistics Canada does not take a position on the proposed amendments. The presentation we have prepared today contains data on motor vehicle thefts that may inform your discussions of the bill. All data sources used are clearly indicated on the slides, as are any pertinent notes. You should have the presentation in front of you to follow. We've also included supplemental information at the end of the deck for the consideration of the committee, and we have distributed to you a copy of our recent Juristat article on motor vehicle theft.
My colleague, Ms. Mia Dauvergne, is here to help answer any questions.
The first several slides provide information on the incidence of police-reported motor vehicle thefts in Canada over time, by province and territory, and by census metropolitan area.
Police-reported motor vehicle thefts are incidents in which a land-based motorized vehicle is taken or attempted to be taken without the owner's authorization. Included are completed thefts and incidents where there was an unsuccessful intent to steal a vehicle, what we call “attempted” thefts.
The graph in this slide shows that Canada's rate of motor vehicle theft peaked in 1996 and has generally been declining since. However, the rate of motor vehicle theft in 2007 was well above the level seen decades earlier. Motor vehicle theft is the fifth most common type of police-reported crime in Canada. In 2007 motor vehicle thefts accounted for 6% of all Criminal Code offences and 13% of all property crimes. In 2007 police reported about 146,000 motor vehicle thefts, averaging about 400 stolen vehicles per day, including both completed and attempted incidents. In addition, there were about 2,500 motor vehicles stolen during the commission of another, more serious offence.
The proportion of incidents classified as “attempted” is higher for motor vehicle thefts than for other Criminal Code offences. In 2007 14% of all motor vehicle thefts were classified by police as attempted, versus 2% for other Criminal Code offences. A little over half of all motor vehicle thefts in 2007 involved cars. Another one-third were trucks, vans, or SUVs. About 4% were motorcycles, and 8% were other types of vehicles.
The next slide shows that the highest rates of motor vehicle theft tend to be in the western provinces and northern Canada. In 2007 Quebec was the only eastern or central province above the national average, and although its rate has declined recently, in 2007 Manitoba had the highest reported motor vehicle theft rate in the country for the eleventh straight year. It's rate was 24% higher than a decade ago.
The next slide shows that in 2007 the highest rates of motor vehicle theft were in western census metropolitan areas: Winnipeg, Abbotsford, Edmonton, and Regina. Winnipeg's rate has been among the highest in Canada for the past 15 years, and it accounts for about 86% of Manitoba's motor vehicle thefts. Montreal reported the highest rate of motor vehicle theft in eastern and central Canada.
Motor vehicle theft is one of the least likely crimes to be solved by police. Of all vehicle thefts in 2007, 11% resulted in an accused person being identified, compared to 22% of all other property-related offences. In 2007 about 16,000 people were accused of motor vehicle theft in Canada.
The next slide shows that, like other property-related offences, motor vehicle theft is a crime often associated with youth. In 2007 police reported motor vehicle theft rates were highest among 15- to 18-year-olds, and youth aged 12 to 17 accounted for three in 10 persons accused of motor vehicle theft in 2007. This is similar to the proportion of youth accused of other property-related offences. In 2007 charges were laid or recommended by police against 59% of youth and 55% of adults accused of motor vehicle theft. This compares to charge rates of 37% for youth and 59% for adults for other property-related offences. Also, about 84% of persons accused of motor vehicle theft in 2007 were male. This compared to 74% of males accused of other property-related offences.
The next slide looks at police-reported motor vehicle theft and organized crime. We do not yet have a reliable, direct way of measuring organized crime involvement, but vehicle recovery status has been used as a proxy measure. In 2007 about four in ten stolen vehicles were not recovered by police, suggesting that these may have been related to organized crime. Vehicle recovery rates were lowest in the province of Quebec and among the highest in Winnipeg.
In the next slide, we turn to the question of court outcomes for charges of motor vehicle theft. It's not possible to identify motor vehicle theft using court administrative records alone. Motor vehicle thefts are currently recorded together with other thefts under section 334 of the Criminal Code. Court records with criminal court outcomes must be linked to police records with offence characteristics in order for us to identify this subset of theft in Canada.
The question of whether or not motor vehicle theft is treated differently from thefts in general by the courts is often asked. We recently linked these administrative files to answer this question for another project.
An unrepresentative sample of court records did show differences in the way in which theft in general and motor vehicle theft were treated by the courts. For example, incarceration was used more frequently for guilty charges of motor vehicle theft, and there were significant differences in the length of custody imposed by the courts for motor vehicle theft compared to other theft. Average sentences were longer for guilty charges of motor vehicle theft for $5,000 or under than for other theft $5,000 or under, and shorter for guilty charges of motor vehicle theft over $5,000 than for all other theft over $5,000.
There are more details on this issue in the supplementary slide at the end of your deck.
The Criminal Code under section 335 describes taking a motor vehicle without consent as an offence “resembling theft”. As seen in the next slide, several thousand of these theft-like charges are heard in Canadian criminal courts each year. The number of these charges heard against youth has been declining since the period introducing the Youth Criminal Justice Act, while the number of these charges heard against adults has been generally increasing over the last decade.
The proportion of charges found guilty for adults and youth tends to be higher for this charge than for charges generally, but is almost identical to the proportion found guilty for theft in general.
In summary, Mr. Chairman, motor vehicle theft continues to be a high-volume offence in Canada, but Canada's police-reported motor vehicle theft rate has been declining since 1996. Motor vehicle theft rates are particularly high in the west, and vehicle recovery rates can serve as a proxy for organized crime involvement. We've seen that recovery rates vary across the country. Stolen vehicles are less often recovered in Quebec than elsewhere in Canada, while in Winnipeg the recovery rate was among the highest.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That ends my presentation. There is supplemental information for the committee at the end of the deck.