in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 28 ,2 01 9 | 6 Make yourself comfortable V for Vistamere Vistamere Retirement Residence is nestled in a quiet neighbourhood in south Oakville. Independent and locally owned, incredibly comfortable and reasonably priced. Come see it for yourself. BOOK A TOUR TODAY 380 Sherin Drive Oakville, Ontario L6L 4J3 905.847.1413 vistamere.ca Like us on naHT NACIXEM TSEB ROF 1# SU GNITOV ROF UOY KNAHT ! ELLIVKAO SAICARG ELLIVKAO / AC.ZYOBOTIRRUB 0962 - 733 - 509 • ELLIVKAO .DR ECIVRES HTRON 022 The Halton region is be- coming a safer place to live, says a survey conducted by Maclean's magazine. The Canadian publica- tion released its latest list of the Most Dangerous Places in Canada on Tuesday, Nov. 19, and Halton region was ranked 215th of 237 commu- nities when it comes to the level of violent crime pre- sent. Halton falls further down the list when all types of crime are taken into con- sideration, with a ranking of 227th. The report ranks Canadi- an communities with popu- lations of 10,000 or more ac- cording to the crime severity index, a Statistics Canada measure of all police report- ed crime, which takes into consideration both the vol- ume and seriousness of of- fences. It is important tofences. It is important tof point out the data in the re- port is from 2018 and, as such, the four homicides that occurred in Halton in 2019 are not represented. Maclean's says the 2018 information is the most cur- rent data available. The report notes that Hal- ton, with its population of 580,014, had a violent crime severity index of 26, far be- low Canada's average of 82.44. The region's overall crime severity index sits at 27, again well below Cana- da's average of 75.01. The report did note local crime is trending upward slightly, as its overall crime severity index was 25.55 in 2013. The criminal incidents listed in Halton for the 2018 period included: • Two homicides • 1,083 assaults • 203 sexual assaults • Four firearms offences • 100 robberies • 995 break-ins • 980 fraud incidents • 537 impaired-driving in- cidents • 13 Youth Criminal Jus- tice Act offences Again, the report showed all these numbers to be well below the national average. News of Halton's ranking was well received by Halton Region Police Board ChairRegion Police Board ChairR Rob Burton.Rob Burton.R "I'm very proud of the high level of community en- gagement we have as a result of our foundation in the Peel Principles of Community Po- licing and the highly trained and diligent members of our police service," he said. Halton region's ranking in this survey is an improve- ment over last year, when it ranked 197th on the Mac- lean's violent crime list and 221st on its overall crime list. Those lists featured 2017 data and saw Halton region receive a violent crime sever- ity index score of 29 and an overall crime severity index score of 28. For the most re- cent survey, Thompson, Man., had the dubious dis- tinction of being ranked the most dangerous place in Canada, with a violent crime severity index of 570, while North Battleford, Sask., had NEWS HALTON GETTING SAFER, SAYS MACLEAN'S CRIME SURVEY DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Halton police at a crime scene in Oakville. Graham Paine/Metroland See - page 7