That's a pretty lousy quality picture, but I don't think that's a Canadian XCR, it seems a bit short. The ones we get here are 18.6". However, the widths are likely the same.
I believe that you are absolutely right. An AR will out shoot an XCR most days of the week. The XCR could be better, but until those parts become available for it (not likely anytime soon) we'll have to deal with what we've got. In my opinion it isn't half bad. A far cry from a pencil thin barrel and a horrid trigger.
Thank you for your insight into accurizing the XCR. At this moment it doesn't make a bit of difference though. I think that a stock XCR is still better than a stock Mini 14.
For the record, I have never had a single failure with the rifle's critical systems in over 1000 rounds. Granted, I have had non-essential parts come loose and disappear... (replaced free of charge by Robinson Arms). I have only recently started competing in Service Rifle matches with my XCR, but at least one person competing with an AR (about 80% use the AR platform) has suffered a malfunction during each match.