News that gangland violence committed with guns may have nudged up Canada's homicide rate had Justice Minister Vic Toews pushing his new crime legislation.

"Why aren't we taking positive steps to get the gang members who are using the guns, especially on a repeat basis, off the streets?" he asked Wednesday.

He said Bill C-10, which would impose mandatory minimum sentences for certain gun and gang-related offences, was the right tool for the job.

"What we need to target on is the use of handguns, especially by gangs," he said. "That is what C-10 is really focused on. The areas of increase in gun crime is specifically the use of handguns by gangs."

However, criminologist Neil Boyd argued against Toews' prescription.

"We can talk about punishment but we have to recognize that these are young men willing to use handguns on their opponents," he said.

"They are not in the least deterred by whether they're going to have four or eight years or a life in prison."

Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that the upswing drove Canada's homicide rate in 2005 to its highest level in a decade.

The rate went from 1.95 per 100,000 people in 2004 to 2.04 per 100,000 in 2005.

However, Canada's murder rate peaked out at 3.3 in the 1970s. The 40-year average is 2.17.

Perhaps the most startling figure is that 222 of the 658 murders -- there were 622 murders in 2004, or 34 fewer -- were committed with firearms.

The increase is directly related to a rise in gang activity, particularly in Alberta and Ontario, where guns are typically used in two-thirds of homicides, StatsCan said.

More than 107 of last year's homicides were believed to be gang-related, an increase of 35 over the previous year, accounting for 16 per cent of 2005's killings.

The steep rise, however, may be connected to StatsCan's decision to record homicides "suspected" to be gang-related rather than the previous method of recording "determined" gang-related killings.

Youth homicide on the rise

The report also found that the rate of youths accused of homicide in 2005 was at its highest level in over a decade.

In 2005, 65 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 were accused of homicide, an increase of 21 compared to the previous year.

But while youth homicides were on the rise, overall youth crime declined by six per cent, including a two per cent decline in overall violent crime.

Spousal homicides

Police say 74 spouses were killed in 2005, a number essentially the same as 2004.

However, spousal homicide rates have generally been declining since the mid-1970s.

Women were five times more likely to be a victim of spousal homicides than men in 2005, which is similar to previous years.

People in common-law relationships are five time more at risk of spousal homicide than people in legal marriages.

Provincial and city comparisons

Homicide rates have historically been higher in the western provinces. Last year was in line with that trend. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta recorded the highest rates among the provinces.

Saskatchewan was worst with 4.33 homicides per 100,000 population. Manitoba was second with 4.16 and Alberta was third with 3.35.

The Western cities of Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg had the worst homicide rates, with Edmonton topping out at 4.29 -- its highest figure since 1981.

Frank Quennell, Saskatchewan's minister of justice, noted that aboriginal people accounted for 69 per cent of his province's murder victims.

Toronto experienced what some called a Year of The Gun in 2005, culminating in the Boxing Day shooting death of teenager Jane Creba as two gangs shot at each other on downtown's Yonge Street.

However, the city's homicide rate was 1.96 -- still above the 1995-2004 average of 1.71.

Toronto's homicide rate seems to be falling, The Globe and Mail reported Saturday. So far this year, police numbers indicate 59 homicides, compared to 65 as of Nov. 3 last year. Twenty-five of those were gun-related, compared to 45 at the same point last year -- a drop of 44 per cent.

Following are the homicide rates per 100,000 people in 2004 and 2005 for each province:

• Newfoundland - .39, 1.74
• P.E.I. - 0, 0
• Nova Scotia - 1.49, 2.13
• New Brunswick - 0.93, 1.2
• Quebec - 1.47, 1.32
• Ontario - 1.51, 1.74
• Manitoba - 4.27, 4.16
• Saskatchewan - 3.92, 4.33
• Alberta - 2.68, 3.35
• British Columbia - 2.69, 2.3

With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme and files from The Canadian Press