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“I mean, look at the headlines,” Maggi said, noting that stories about catfishing, child abduction and violent crime get much more attention in Winnipeg than, say, government affairs.

“Really, it’s hard to find a positive sentiment story coming out of Winnipeg,” he said.

The real crime capital of Canada is Regina, with a severity index rating of 125.8. People just don’t hear about the dark sides to Saskatchewan’s cities, Maggi said, because most of the national news that comes out of the province is government-related — how many articles have you seen about Brad Wall lately, compared to robberies in Regina or stabbings in Saskatoon?

Canadians also tend to think of Atlantic cities as safe havens, according to the poll — after top-ranked Ottawa, the next four are Charlottetown, Victoria, Moncton and St. John’s. While Statistics Canada doesn’t have a crime severity index for Charlottetown, the latter two cities are actually above the national average at 75.7 and 79.2 — though it’s worth noting that P.E.I as a whole has the lowest crime severity rating of any province or territory.

Photo by Brian Donogh/Postmedia/File

Maggi credits Atlantic Canada’s scores to nobody really knowing what goes on in Atlantic Canada. More people also tend to say “not sure” when asked about cities in the region.

“People think Atlantic Canada is quiet,” he said. “People don’t associate P.E.I. with crime, it’s Anne of Green Gables, or potatoes — nice, peaceful ocean views.”

Canadians are largely right about Ottawa — they ranked it the safest in the country, and they’re not far off. With a severity index of 51.3 it’s well below the national average, though it’s beaten by five areas, including Toronto and Quebec City.

Overall, Maggi said, “Canadians think Canadian cities are pretty safe as a whole.” Only two cities — Toronto and Winnipeg — were categorized by more respondents as unsafe than safe.

He says he’ll definitely repeat the study next year.

“Being able to compare how media coverage of crime affects people’s perceptions is interesting to us enough to continue doing this,” he said. “Especially seeing the trend lines over time.”