Canadians see Charlottetown as second safest city in country

Charlottetown is seen as the second safest city in Canada, according to a poll released this month.

The Mainstreet/Postmedia poll of 4,213 Canadians ranked Ottawa as the safest among 15 major cities while Winnipeg was ranked last.

Sixty-five per cent of respondents said they believe Charlottetown is safe, while 18 per cent believe it's unsafe and 17 per cent aren't sure.

The survey is based on the perceived safety of cities not actual data.

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"They say perception is reality so we wanted to see, especially given that there's been a new Stats Can release in the last month about crime statistics in major cities," said David Valentin, executive vice-president for Mainstreet Research.

Reality vs. perception

"We wanted to see if there was any correlation between what the actual crime statistics are and what Canadians' perceptions of safety in a lot of these cities are. And of course what we found was there isn't much ... correlation at all," said Valentin.

"Charlottetown is definitely scoring higher than the crime statistics data would suggest, but all things being said, you know, we're not seeing crime go up in Charlottetown. Quite the opposite."

People from Prince Edward Island would know the crimes that take place on the Island, but I think for the rest of Canadians we don't hear too much about the crime happening there.- David Valentin

Statistics Canada tracks Prince Edward Island and not the City of Charlottetown.

"You look at the crime rate ... Prince Edward Island has the fifth best crime rate in Canada so all things considered, Charlottetown isn't a dangerous place by any sort of standard and isn't misrepresented on the rankings," said Valentin.

"But when you look at other cities like Toronto for instance, Toronto has the lowest crime rate in Canada of any major Canadian city we looked at and yet Canadians rank it way down at the bottom as the second unsafest city in Canada."

What Atlantic Canadians think

Atlantic Canadians ranked Charlottetown first as the safest city in Canada, which means more Atlantic Canadians believe Charlottetown is safer than Ottawa, said Valentin.

Seventy-eight per cent of Atlantic Canadians said Charlottetown is the safest, with a margin of error of +/- 4.91 per cent.

Three-hundred-ninety-nine people in Atlantic Canada were interviewed for the poll. There was no breakdown for the number of Islanders interviewed specifically.

Other Atlantic cities

Some Atlantic Canadian cities fared worse among Atlantic Canadians in the poll. Halifax and St. John's moved down the rankings among Atlantic Canadians, while Moncton kept its spot.

"When we do see other cities on the screen it's usually in the news, and so we're either seeing the very best of those cities or we're seeing the very worst and, you know, in a lot of casesif there's a homicide or some sort of high-profile crime in Toronto, the rest of the country is going to hear about it because there's such a large media presence there," said Valentin.

I don't think people have any high-profile crime to associate Prince Edward Island to. I think it's mainly positive memories.- David Valentin

"We don't see as much and hear as much about Charlottetown as we do other cities ... I don't think people have any high-profile crime to associate Prince Edward Island to. I think it's mainly positive memories.

"Of course the people from Prince Edward Island would know the crimes that take place on the Island, but I think for the rest of Canadians we don't hear too much about the crime happening there."

The poll byMainstreetResearch was conducted using a random survey sample of 4,213 Canadians on Aug. 3 to 4, 2016. A probabilistic sample of this size would yield a margin of error of +/- 1.52 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

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