BROCKVILLE CRIMINAL LAWYERS

A Quick Look at Brockville’s History

Brockville is a city located in eastern Ontario just south of the 401, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. One of the oldest communities in the province, it was settled by colonists loyal to the British Crown—United Empire Loyalists—fleeing the American colonies after the war with Britain. The original village from which the city grew, was called Elizabethtown, but was later renamed Brockville, after the British general Isaac Brock who had been a hero of the War of 1812.

“Brockville became Ontario’s first incorporated self-governing town on January 28, 1832, two years before the town of Toronto.”¹ Like so many early settlements in Ontario, its first industries consisted of a grist mill, tanneries, asheries and some wagon makers, in addition to tradesmen of various types.² Eventually other industries followed, including shipbuilding. The first railway tunnel built in Canada is in Brockville and the coming of the railway contributed to the growth of the town. The tunnel passes right under the downtown core and is open to the public seven days a week, including statutory holidays, from spring to fall, usually starting on the Easter weekend. Admission is free but donations are accepted. For more information see: https://www.brockvillerailwaytunnel.com/faq.php

A Waterfront City

Brockville is in the area of the Thousand Islands and is a popular boating and scuba diving destination. There are several marinas in the area and boat cruises through the Thousand Islands are a popular tourist activity. The waters off Brockville provide “one of the best freshwater scuba diving locations in the world.”³ Divers can view the century old shipwrecks and artifacts that are found on the bottom of the St. Lawrence.

Is Brockville Safe?

In 2001, “’A World Health Organization Designation Collaborating Centre as a Safe Community’ was confirmed on Brockville, Ontario as the first such designation in Ontario, second in Canada, fourth in North America, and 58th globally.”⁴

To get a sense of how Brockville has fared more recently, you can look at the latest available annual report of the Brockville Police Services Board, which was for 2020—the pandemic year. In its section on “Criminal Offences” it declares that:

2020 was a year like no other. Overall we observed a reduction in many crimes including sexual assaults, assaults and criminal harassment. Unfortunately we did have an increase in the number of robberies. This statistic can be easily linked to the drug sub-culture and substance addiction.⁵

More current press releases do describe drug crimes, but also other crimes typical for any city in Ontario, including: domestic assault, firearm offences, mischief, credit card offences, assaults, fraud, impaired driving, probation breaches, stolen vehicles and fraud.⁶

From this laundry list of offences, it looks like Brockville, a community with a population of approximately 22, 000, is no more dangerous than any other city of comparable size in Ontario and appreciably safer than many large cities.

Footnotes

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brockville#History
2. Ibid.
3. https://brockvilletourism.com/things-to-do/outdoor/
4. https://brockvillepolice.com/about-bps/who-designation/
5. https://brockvillepolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2020-Annual-Report-web.pdf, at p. 9.
6. https://brockvillepolice.com/news/