Auto Theft

The rate of vehicle theft generally coincides with the population of a city. Take Fort McMurray for example, in 2009 on the McLean's list of the cities with the most vehicle theft, the city came in 11th while in 2010 it jumped up to first. Fort McMurray though is a booming city where hundreds of thousands of people come every year from around the world to get work in the oil sands. The bigger the population and the crime rates rise. Winnipeg though dropped from first in 2009 to eighth in 2010. The majority of vehicle theft is in the western provinces, with B.C. having six of the top spots in 2009.

Top 10 Cities in Canada for Auto Theft -  2009

1	Winnipeg, Man.
2	Prince George, B.C.
3	Joliette, Que.
4	Chilliwack, B.C.
5	Edmonton, Alta.
6	Surrey, B.C.
7	Kamloops, B.C.
8	Abbotsford, B.C.
9	Saint- Jérôme, Que.
10	Maple Ridge, B.C.

Top 10 Cities in Canada for Auto Theft - 2010

1	Fort McMurray, Alta.
2	Joliette, Que.
3	Surrey, B.C.
4	Kelowna, B.C.
5	Brantford, Ont.
6	Edmonton, Alta.
7	Grande Prairie, Alta.
8	Winnipeg, Man.
9	Langley, B.C.
10	Saskatoon, Sask.

Looking at statistics though, the crime rate for vehicle theft has gone down drastically. According to McLean's it has gone down 40% in the past decade. So what have we done so differently in the past ten years to change the rates that much? Preventing vehicle theft starts by using your head. Lock your doors, roll up the windows, don't leave keys in the car or in an obvious spot to find, don't leave items that people want to steal in plain sight and most of all do not leave your car running unnatended. If you want to get more technical, there are alot of alarm systems and steering wheel locks that would prevent a thief from stealing your car also. 

There are also certain types of cars that theives take, so don't buy these:

1	2000 Honda Civic SiR 2-door
2	1999 Honda Civic SiR 2-door
3	2002 Cadillac Escalade 4-door 4WD
4	2004 Cadillac Escalade 4-door 4WD
5	2005 Acura RSX Type S 2-door
6	1997 Acura Integra 2-door
7	2000 Audi S4 Quattro 4-door AWD
8	2003 Hummer H2 4-door AWD
9	2006 Acura RSX Type S 2-door
10	2004 Hummer H2 4-door AWD

Hypermasculinity

Throughout history, men are viewed as powerful and dominant. Even religion is seen in this way, from Him, God, and the fact that Eve was made from Adam's rib bone, prove that the men were seen as more important in every aspect of life. Even now in our modern day times, young boys are shown "action figures" instead of dolls. So are we creating hypermasculinity, still, even in our time of understanding and equality, or is hypermasculinity a trait in boys that will always be there and we will never be able to get rid of, and does this lead to aggressive sexual behaviour?
When watching commercials on channels meant for kids, the toys that are being advertised for them varies widly concerning which gender they are going for. For the girl's it is baby dolls that can talk to you and they learn how to take care of babies and children, there is also easy bake ovens so they can learn how to cook, and Barbie so they know how to shop and wait around for Ken. So concerning the girls, advertisments are setting them up to be housewives and mothers.
On the flip-side boys learn at a young age to be manly. They have action figures that fight crime, Tonka trucks, race cars- toys that are generally active or violent.So does this create hypermasculinity? From a young age boys are learning to fight for what they want, in sports, parents tell their young boys to fight for the ball and score, the point of the game is to win. For girls it's "try your best" and if you don't win, well that's okay because we are all winners.
It seems unfair but it is not really noticeable; it has always been like this. Boys learn to get what they want and crush anybody in the way, when they grow up and become men, that state of mind still sticks with them and they take what they want, not always nicely. Sexual assault has been studied for years and hypermasculinity has been connected to it. If a man wants that girl at the bar, well he can just go over and get her. It's what he has been taught for his whole life because if he can get the most girls he is "manly".
Some think though that this is just boys being boys; that over the ages, violence has always been connected to sex. Warriors sent out to crush villages would pillage them and rape the women. So war and sex have always coincided, but in our day and age this doesn't make sense. Most men now do not join the army, so if they are not fighting a war, why is their still rape and sexual assault? Apparently men do think that the more aggressive they are, girls will like them more, and the more women they have the cooler they are. Like girls who sleep around, they are sluts, but a guy who does the same thing is cool in the eyes of his friends and peers. Does this make sense?
It is true though that sex and war go together. Just last year, it was reported that many women in Afghanistan who were there fighting with the Canadian Forces were sexually assaulted and raped. On October 6 2010 the  military had only confirmed one though, a far cry from what a 2008 report indicated. The Canadian Forces Marshal Provost report 170 incidents of sexual assault in that year. This report contained incidents, no matter the outcome of the investigation. It seems though that women who were sent overseas do not want to talk about what happened.  

Serial and Mass Murder

Two of the most famous Canadian murderers are serial killer Clifford Robert Olson and mass murderer Marc Lépine. What they did shocked our country and angered many. They of course had their reasons for this though. So what makes someone murder many people and what, exactly, is the difference between serial and mass murder?

École Polytechnique at the University of Montreal was the scene of a tragic incident on December 6 1989. Marc Lépine, only 25 years old, shot 14 women, stabbing one to death, and wounding 13 others; only taking 20 minutes to act out his plan; at the end he shot himself. The reasons for his siege were quite clear though. In a letter that he wrote that day, which was found in his jacket pocket, as well as everything he said during this 20 minutes, told everyone why he had done this. Marc believed that feminists were the reasons that he could not get or keep a job. It seemed that he had done his research, a list of 19 women who were in positions of power, such as various police women and politicians, was found complete with their phone numbers; but he decided he did not have the time to find all of them, instead he would kill women who were trying to get ahead in occupations, he thought, were meant for men; showing why this school was chosen- École Polytechnique is an engineering school.
Marc Lépine was a mass murderer. What he did killed a lot of people at the same time which is the difference between mass and serial murderer. Clifford Robert Olson Jr. was a serial killer. Over a long period of time he murdered a lot of people, and he didn't commit suicide in the end, like most mass murderers do.
Clifford Robert Olson Jr. was born in Vancouver BC, and at the end of his long murder career, he would admit to eleven murders that took place all over the province. During his child, unlike most serial murderers, he grew up in a stable home, yet showed signs of delinquency at a young age. He was known as a bully and rumoured to torture and kill animals. At the age of 13 he was arrested for the first time for theft. His first murder victim was 12 year old Christine Weller. On November 17 1980 he abducted her and she was found later on strangled with a belt and stabbed several times. His next two victims were 13 year old Colleen Daignault, on April 16 1981, and 16 year old Daryn Johnsrude, who was found bludgeoned to death with a hammer and thrown into a ditch. Just one month after the murder of Colleen Daignault, Clifford got married, while still under suspicions of molesting a 5 yr. old girl, but the case was dropped due to lack of evidence. He than took someone's life just four days after the wedding, 16 year old Sandra Wolfsteiner; and one month later, Ada Court, 13. In the next month, July, Clifford killed six more youth. by this point police were getting suspicious. Only three bodies had been found, and the latter seven were tentatively being called runaways, but the police quickly realised that there was a serial killer. Louise Chatrand, 17, was his last victim, she was buried in a shallow grave on July 30. On August 12, Clifford was arrested for the abduction of two girls, ending his long murdering streak.
Upon his arrest, Olson decided to make a deal, in turn for the 11 bodies, he wanted $10,000 given to his wife for each body he gave the police; giving the first one as a 'freebie'. In the end, the families of the missing children just wanted a proper burial, so the deal was made; giving Olson's wife $100,000. In January 1982, Olson plead guilty to 11 counts of murder and was given 11 life sentences. Trying for parole for a few times, has not been helpful for him, he is still in maximum security jail.
For crimes such as these I think that there is no way to know it is going to happen and to stop it. Nobody knew of what Marc Lépine wanted to do, and even as it was happening the police were unwilling to go inside the school because they didn't know where, exactly, he was in the building. As for Clifford Olson, his victims ranged from gender to age, making evidence and catching him quite hard. It was also his mistake of getting caught on a back road that led to his arrest, not the work of the police. Therefore I think that catching murderers is only really possible, if the murderers aren't very good at it and leave a lot of evidence, or police can read peoples minds, and they can't.