Canada's safest cities
 

Interesting that people believe Ottawa to be very safe. There were four shootings on Sunday alone. A lot of the recent wave is gang-related, admittedly.

Also interesting is that Toronto is a lot safer than people think.

Ottawa is Canada’s safest city, says a nation-wide poll. Perception or reality? | Ottawa Citizen

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

Does anyone think of Toronto as other than being very safe? There are problems with Toronto but being troubled by excitement, danger and drama are not among them.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

The survey would tend to suggest that people do think that way.

It's all down to the media. Shootings, stabbings etc get reported. Mundane stuff doesn't.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

I'm not sure that's true. People sometimes talk down where they live. It's a major reason given for many people wanting to leave the UK for Canada for a start - albeit more petty crime and anti-social behaviours related rather than safety.

Granted people in our small city may look upon Toronto as being prohibition-era Chicago or something :nod: but you could get the impression there are no-go areas here :lol: and that "our" central park is a haven for prostitutes, drug users, vampires and zombies after sundown, if you listen to some. :rofl:

They are probably remembering the days when Moncton resembled Bedford Falls if George Bailey had never lived. Pottersville :rofl::rofl:

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

Feeling safe is all subjective and perception until probability kicks in and you become a statistic.

I live in the US near Washington DC and Baltimore. Every Canadian city feels safe relative to where I live. However, when compared to the UK, the greater availability of guns in Canada maybe doesn't make it as safe relatively speaking for someone from the UK. I believe the murder rate is higher in Canada than in the UK.

When I first moved to Toronto from the UK (Manchester), I thought Toronto was very clean and very safe. There didn't seem to be the same underlying aggression in bars for example - one of the metrics I was using to assess safety. In the UK, you only had to accidentally look at someone the wrong way and the chances were greater that you ended up in an altercation - the default response seemed to be to take offence and respond aggressively. So it's really subjective as to what environment makes you feel safer. Having said that, my English friend was mugged outside a Toronto pub. Someone punched him to the ground and robbed him. That never happened to him in the UK so he would disagree that Toronto was safer.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

Going by crime ranking alone, I am in one of the worst city's in Canada for crime. Mostly property crimes due to the major drug issue in this city.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

Good to see you back. :)

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

Certainly here in the "Capital City" of NB, it does all look very folksy and it prides itself with being a safe little community. I do note though that none of the young women I talk to would ever walk in certain parts on their own after dark. Everyone tells me that there is lots of crime here that goes unreported, but that may well be apocryphal.

I think most places could be dangerous if you behave like a plonker....

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

I feel pretty safe in my city (knock on wood) however if they ever did a census on the most addicts & jakey bastards St Catharines & Welland would probably be tied for first place :lol:

I'm not surprised to see Ottawa on top, beautiful place, never once felt worried about anything when I'm there.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

You might feel a bit different lately. The increase in crime, especially shootings, is worrisome, though it does seem to be mostly certain areas.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

Which is probably true of every city/state/province/town/county etc

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

We are in St Albert which isn't on the listings but Edmonton next door came in pretty low for perceived safety compared to actual safety.

I would certainly agree with the perception of it, my son and I walked from the hockey arena to the car park In the dark and I was feeling quite apprehensive and uncomfortable, there seems to be a lot of reported crime and homicides this year anyway in Edmonton. We definitely lock our doors as we drive through certain areas!
But during the day wandering around downtown I feel totally safe.
I would say it is pretty similar in terms of perceived safety to most UK cities I have lived in.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

And gang-related.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

JonBoyE always dismisses crime in Vancouver as being gang and drug related and, by implication, of little concern to law abiding citizens. I don't buy that for a moment. It does mean that crime is of less concern to affluent citizens but if you live in a block where people are shooting each other you're still likely to get shot.

A while back I had cause to visit someone in east end Toronto (Morningside and Lawrence) reasonably often, we'd sit on the balcony listening to drug deals, beatings and the occasional shooting. It was frightening and I think it reasonable to think that, just because we were in a project, we were at risk, without being in a gang. In any case, one can reasonably argue that the violence in rough US locations, Anacostia or East Saint Louis, for example, is gang or drug related, it's still pervasive - the death toll among the uninvolved is disturbing.

I suggest that violent crime, especially gun crime, is the same problem regardless of the target. Not every gang member with a gun is a criminal mastermind informed as to the precise identifying features of his rival.

Re: Canada's safest cities
 

I would agree with you. The shootings, stabbings, gougings etc have been largely gang-related but I think at least one victim was simply caught in the crossfire.