Arif Virani, a Toronto member of parliament, was appointed justice minister in a broad cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week.
"I think that empirically it's unlikely" Canada is becoming less safe, Virani told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
According to Statistics Canada, the country's police-reported crime rate increased 5% last year, with the violent crime rate increasing 2%.
An April poll by Leger found nearly two-thirds of Canadians surveyed thought crime had gotten worse where they lived.
Canada will allow people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness to access assisted death starting in March.
Persons:
Arif Virani, Justin Trudeau, Virani, Leger, Anna Mehler Paperny, Matthew Lewis
Organizations:
TORONTO, Reuters, Statistics Canada, Calgary, Thomson
Locations:
Toronto, Canada, Uganda, Surrey, British Columbia