MikeUK

Don’t just dump the subject when we have some real answers.. why the urge to cover this up… if so many people are coming here to get away from the crime in the UK shouldn’t we discuss this in a open and honest manner….

So many people come her to bring their kids up away form the crime and drugs in the UK.. only to find drugs are much easier to obtain here. The crime would appear to be better overall
But don’t forget the rapes about 4.8 times the UK….

I think I stand by my earlier point that your at a higher risk of crime in the UK, but if you are involved in Canada its likely to be nastier..

The difference in crime and types is worth noting and the regions affected by it…

On the sources I expect it’s the national governments that supply the stats..

Glaswegian

In any materialistic society that promotes freewill and responsibility for your own actions, there will be the opportunity to view yourself as having failed in life - the result is petty crime and vandalism.

Different areas of Calgary have very different crime rates - not very much happens where I live, mainly crime against property, but if you live closer to downtown, you'll have a different impression.

Culturally Canada is very different - during the playoffs 17th Avenue was full of people celebrating. I can't imagine the same thing happening during a big footie game without multiple arrests. Can you image a UK policeman asking a footie fan to pour his can of beer down the drain? It happens here on a regular basis.

Canada is culturally distinct from the UK. Homicide rates don't always tell you very much about a city apart from how lucky you will be to get out one of its no-go areas at night alive. Quiet middle class residential areas tend to be quiet middle class residential areas everywhere.

Dunno?

MikeUK

I think “Glaswegian� has a very good point.. crime is kind of spread more evenly in the UK, so every body gets to taste it and see it… In Canada it would appear to be concentrated into particular areas… enter those zones and the risk climbs much higher than the stats shown would suggest simply because it is so concentrated…

willmore

That's correct - you get into "high crime" areas where unemployment, poverty, uneducated people and mentally challenged/drug addicts are trying to survive "in their own way".

A very interesting bit of trivia that I didn't know - was that although its illegal to carry a gun or a switchblade....it isn't illegal to carry a knive - hence the reason so many crimes are being done with knives.

In Victoria we are having a problem with crime in the downtown area - the police have made a gallant effort to "move the problem" along - well, all its done is move the "problem" to a different upscale neighbourhood who had very little petty crime before. On one street alone, there were 20 cars that had smashed windshields done by bricks.

No one is trying to hide the fact that there is "crime and punishment" in Canada - especially me - I would be crazy to do so.....but as I said in the beginning of this thread.......using sensationalized articles in the paper who to some naive person might assume is the norm is inappropriate - that is all I was trying to say....

This has been a fascinating debate and I'm really sorry that I missed it last night - but had other priorities. However, I still question the motives of Squarepants for starting this thread......and why he has disappeared????

iaink

Your original point about the severity of crimes was perhaps a valid one, but i am not going to lose sleep over worrying about it. I missed the rape stats, its a fair cop. I wonder what the unreported rape levels are, I suspect that most actual rapes are never reported because of the nature of the trial process on both sides of the pond, so perhaps a low reported rape level is more an indication of how little faith there is in the justice system than anything else?

The point about drug crime is probably a bit of the mark. Didnt the UK start to caution people for drug possesion rather than charge them? Plus you can factor in the fact that the stuff is grown here on a commercial basis means that there is a lot more scope to arrest people for drug related offences. My suspicion is that most drug related violence is gang on gang anyway, and hopefully is not going to directly affect most expats. Not the case with alcohol related violence! Id rather have a run in with someone stoned than someone pissed out of their head anyday.

Please dont kid yourself that drugs are any harder to get in the Uk than they are in Canada. On top of that the number of underage drinkers and smokers (drinkers in particular) in the UK is dreadfull. Alcohol control in the UK is a joke compared to the liquor store and ID system here.

I think though we have managed to show that judging a country based on its newreports is not particularly usefull. I am reminded of Bowling for Columbine, where it seems that the attention focused on crime by the media, and the fear it generates are perhaps a factor in people in the US being more inclined to shoot first (and be shot at) and ask questions later. Thank god Canada in general is not like that, despite the fact that everyone seems to have a gun or two.

Iain.

squarepants

A contradiction? NO ! Yes I am comparing canada to UK, as I see it, and it's just my opinion, and I don't even have to suck up to anyone, for brownie points

Pretty Flowers

Personally I'm sick of all the talk of crime etc.

Reported and actual crime are in decline in the UK, it's just the good old tabloids and crimewatch that stir people into a frenzy over crime statistics.

I think that you are statistically more likely to be killed by a coconut falling off a tree than being murdered, but you are most likely to suffer violent crime at the hands of someone you know rather than someone you don't

So you may think you are safe escaping to Canada, only to be murdered by your husband....

As far as the stats on rape go, I'd like to see what the incidence is of reported versus statistical rape. It may be that rapes get reported more in Canada than in the UK...

squarepants

Are you saying statistics can't be sexed up? God knows there is a whole lot of corruption scandals going on in the govt right now, and has been going on for years.

So you spent a few nights in montreal and Toronto, so have we, and there is always some violence going on there, the amount of shooting in toronto and scarborough, is more than you get in london, liverpool and leeds, because guns are ready available here from the states, in the uk, there are guns also, but not on the same scale.

Canada is just like any other country out there really, even with its smaller population, uk has twice as much people, on a small island, that is why the problems are readily visible.

Pretty Flowers

I guess you've never been in South East London on a Saturday night then??

:scared:

Guns are absolutely rife in the inner cities these days. A road in Clapton is known as Murder mile because of the number of drive by shootings that take place....

squarepants

Recently actually, with the native canadians in I forgot where, when a certain police chief was taking over there town. By race, are you just asking about blacks vs white?

oceanMDX

My reply was to iaink, not to you! Oops?

oceanMDX

True, and that's a very good point. In Canada, about 70% of the women who were murdered were done in by their husband or boyfriend.

squarepants

I know, It's good to see that "smart-ass" is only human afterall, never thought I 'll see the day when he contradicts himself? I guess it takes another person to bring out the best in us

Lighting up Iaink....am just kidding too

oceanMDX

You got the story wrong. A native police officer - on an Indian reserve - was basically kicked off the reserve by other Indians (his own people). It was not a White vs. Indian incidence.

squarepants

I was referring to the situation where some indians rioted with the cops, and one of them got killed, with fire bombs everywhere, this was a while back. There might not be a lot of white vs black riots, but the cops in Toronto sure know their profiling very well, and there was one caught on camera recentlt punching a somalian kid ( jamba jamba his name was ), fantino denied it, until he was shown video of it