Premier David Eby was up in the legislature last week under fire for assorted shortcomings and had to come up with an omnibus defence to all the failures laid at his feet.

One of his comebacks was that “B.C. is leading in crime reduction.”

“An 11 per cent reduction in the crime severity index and a seven per cent reduction in the overall crime rate. Our actions are showing results.”

The numbers come from a StatsCan annual survey. They are handy for rebutting Opposition critics, but he is the first to acknowledge that they don’t do much to convince anyone outside the legislature.

This week, he confirmed once again how pervasive the public worry about crime is, statistics be damned.

He appeared with federal Justice Minister and Attorney General Sean Fraser and B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma to sell the federal bail reform legislation. The most spirited part of his remarks had to do with the profound concern about crime.

He said that in the last few years, especially post-COVID, “the majority of Canadians, including myself, are deeply concerned that there is an erosion........

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