Is it true that Canada is safer than the United States? (college, income)

[smakawhat]

I am guessing on that last note you were speaking "meta-phoric-a-ly"..

[taigagirl]

Originally Posted by smakawhat

I am guessing on that last note you were speaking "meta-phoric-a-ly"..

You bet. HHA has been described to me as the area Central Winnipeg (around Central Park) and then south and north of Sherbrook for a few blocks. I have also heard Selkirk Avenue and the area around it as HHA, I have also heard North Main mentioned too. The area around Gilbert Park earned the same dubious distinction after a few stabbings.

I love Winterpeg. Lived in the Central Park area (on Cumberland) while I was in university. I didn't venture out much late at night, but always walked through CP on my way to school....there used to be some elderly Asian gentlemen practicing Tai Chi every morning, and it was lovely, as were the bells from the church.

Maybe someone else from Wpg., has a better description of HHA. If so, I stand corrected

[Duluth07]

In terms of general safety, it's really an issue that depends on your experiences in either country and what kind of expectations you have when going to Canada. Downtown Winnipeg (this was, I don't know, like 1996-1999) a very scary place to be at night. There were over 600 known street gangs according to Winnipeg Police. I had many friends who had incidents happen on Portage Ave near the McDonald's on Langside, which is about a block from the University of Winnipeg. The method of committing crimes might be different (many in Winnipeg were knifings, fist fights, there were a few robberies of cab drivers or bank tellers using a syringe while telling the victim the syringe contained HIV+ blood, etc) while in the US much of the crime is with the threat of a gun.

People do come to Canada without much understanding that Canada has it's own problems with race, class and society just like the US does. While not as segregated, there are cities where racial tension (between and within groups) is high. Unemployment is high. Positive role models are hard to find. Winnipeg, for example, has long been described as this big city in the middle of nowhere with nothing going on. That's not true, of course, but there definitely is not the wealth in Winnipeg that is in Toronto. People can't afford to go anywhere because Winnipeg is in the middle of nowhere. The closest city is Grand Forks, ND which is 3 hours south or Duluth, Minnesota which is 6 hours southeast. Large Canadian cities are a days drive or longer. So you have a lot of kids with nothing to do and no money to go anywhere, perfect recipe for trouble.

I just try to use common sense regardless of where I go. I like my big cities, but I pretty much use the same rules wherever I am and do a little research on where I'm going beforehand.

[WIHS2006]

One of the things that many people tend to forget is population differences:

United States - 310,008,000
Canada - 34,211,000

Gee no ****, of course the US has more crime. Because we have 10 times the population!

It has nothing to do with Canada being a socialist state, being a British puppet state, banning guns, etc but rather because the US has a higher population. More people = more crime.

[ThroatGuzzler]

Originally Posted by WIHS2006

One of the things that many people tend to forget is population differences:

United States - 310,008,000
Canada - 34,211,000

Gee no ****, of course the US has more crime. Because we have 10 times the population!

It has nothing to do with Canada being a socialist state, being a British puppet state, banning guns, etc but rather because the US has a higher population. More people = more crime.

No **** you have more crime in terms of numbers, BUT you also blow us out of the water when it comes to per capita. That means a PERCENTAGE, not a raw number... The US is much more violent than Canada. The US has 700 inmates per 100,000 while Canada has less than 250. There's a reason why you guys have capital punishment and Canada does not. Your felons are so violent and out of wack you have to kill them for the offences they committ. Also your social problems when it comes to race, and your illegal immigration issues are on a much larger scale than what we face in Canada. There's no doubt that contributes to the violent persona Americans are known for.

[sunshineleith]

Originally Posted by ThroatGuzzler

No **** you have more crime in terms of numbers, BUT you also blow us out of the water when it comes to per capita. That means a PERCENTAGE, not a raw number... The US is much more violent than Canada. The US has 700 inmates per 100,000 while Canada has less than 250. There's a reason why you guys have capital punishment and Canada does not. Your felons are so violent and out of wack you have to kill them for the offences they committ. Also your social problems when it comes to race, and your illegal immigration issues are on a much larger scale than what we face in Canada. There's no doubt that contributes to the violent persona Americans are known for.

Exactly. One of the scariest statisics is the per capita murder rate for murders committed by young people. The USA has an 11 times higher per capita rate than Canada. Doesn't bode well for the future of the country.

Murders committed by youths per capita by country. Definition, graph and map.

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by sunshineleith

Exactly. One of the scariest statisics is the per capita murder rate for murders committed by young people. The USA has an 11 times higher per capita rate than Canada. Doesn't bode well for the future of the country.

Murders committed by youths per capita by country. Definition, graph and map.

Can you clarify how that does not bode well for the future of the country? In what way? I would be interested to see how much fluctuation in these statistics has occurred over the past decade.

I do admit this is very sad and needs to be addressed, but I guess I am not seeing the connection between these statistics and the "future of the country" especially since Brasil which is 4th overall and 3 times the rate has been hailed as the Nation of the future by many economists.

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by ThroatGuzzler

No **** you have more crime in terms of numbers, BUT you also blow us out of the water when it comes to per capita. That means a PERCENTAGE, not a raw number... The US is much more violent than Canada

.

First off the poster you quoted is obviously quite dumb. How people can go through life not understanding the difference between between per capita/percentages and total numbers is just beyond me.

The US has 700 inmates per 100,000 while Canada has less than 250.

Did you ever think that possibly the gap in these numbers is partially filled by inmates that are serving prison time for Drug offenses due to the backward war on drugs fought in the US? Many of these inmates would not be serving time in Canada, so it is not exactly comparable.

There's a reason why you guys have capital punishment and Canada does not. Your felons are so violent and out of wack you have to kill them for the offences they committ.

Can you explain your reasoning on this? There are many countries with lower murder rates than the US that have capital punishment, so Im not seeing the connection.

Also your social problems when it comes to race

I know Ive brought this up before on this site, but race issues are not a direct reason for the crime in the US. Blacks and immigrants in Canada are alot more disadvantaged overall than their counterparts in the US. Look at the per capita income numbers prove that the black community has come alot further in the US than Canada.

your illegal immigration issues are on a much larger scale than what we face in Canada.

Im glad you brought up this point, because many Canadians forget that there is a big difference between bordering the wealthiest nation on earth and bordering a developing nation with serious Drug, weapon and crime issues right along the border.

[ThroatGuzzler]

Originally Posted by Cart24

I know Ive brought this up before on this site, but race issues are not a direct reason for the crime in the US. Blacks and immigrants in Canada are alot more disadvantaged overall than their counterparts in the US. Look at the per capita income numbers prove that the black community has come alot further in the US than Canada.

Look what happened back in Connecticut last week. A black employee kills 10+ whites at his job site in response to getting fired, and he claimed that he was racially harassed multiple times on the job. African Americans have this chip on their shoulder due to the "oppression" (they so claim) they've had to face for the past 300 years; so there's obviously tons of baggage that comes with it, and it goes to show. 1 in 10 Americans are black and only 1 in 33 Canadians are. Most blacks in Canada do not claim they've been oppressed (as most of them are recent immigrants), they CHOSE to come to Canada, whereas a majority of Black Americans "African Americans" did not. And when I speak of "Race issues" it's particularly relating to the black/white one, which in the US has been relevant since day one. We're talking about two completely different situations right here.

[sunshineleith]

Originally Posted by Cart24

....I know Ive brought this up before on this site, but race issues are not a direct reason for the crime in the US. Blacks and immigrants in Canada are alot more disadvantaged overall than their counterparts in the US. Look at the per capita income numbers prove that the black community has come alot further in the US than Canada.....

Would love to look at the racially divided per capita income numbers - please provide a reference link to them.