Abbotsford – City of Homicides

Today’s Province reports that Abbotsford was named as the metropolitan area with Canada’s highest homicide rate. Not really something to be proud of is it. The front page of The Province showed an 81 year old man in his scooter waving his custom criminal bashing club which he recently used to thwart an aggressive panhandler.
But the most interesting item in the article was a reference to former criminal William Huntley (pictured here), a 30 year Abbotsford resident who has been ‘clean’ for two and a half years and …”sees that the town is troubled”. Big deal. This guy is quoted as saying “It’s still a nice town but yeah, it’s getting a little out of hand. A lot of it is the big drug influence. Speed has hit this town really hard…I’m sure that [the murder rate] has a lot to do with the drug trade.” Mr. Huntley has lived in Abbotsford for 30 years and has only cleaned up his criminal act in the last 2 and a half? Perhaps he should consider how his behaviour over the years has contributed to Abbotsford’s fall from grace and it’s contributions such as his that have opened the city up to drug traffickers and other miscreants. I rest most of the blame at his feet and challenge him to do something positive and contribute to the repair and maintenance of his chosen home. I appreciate that he’s no longer breaking into homes or participating in other property crimes but talking about the destruction of Abbotsford without taking responsibility is galling.