Homicides up for second straight year, but overall crime rate drops (CP via Yahoo! Canada News)

2 hours, 0 minute ago By Jim Brown OTTAWA (CP) - The Canadian homicide rate was up in 2005 for the second year in a row, reaching its highest level in nearly a decade. But figures released Thursday by Statistics Canada show the chances of being murdered were still substantially lower than they were when the rate reached its peak in the mid-1970s. And despite the Conservative government's contention that law-order must become a national priority, the overall crime rate fell last year - largely because ...