CRIME, NOT HEALTH, TOP ISSUE FOR URBANITES: POLL

Far-Reaching Survey; Most Think Economy Will Recover In 'Next Year Or So'

Half of urban Canadians say they are very concerned about drugs in
their communities and almost as many fear guns, gangs, and random
shootings -- and less than one quarter strongly feel that they are
safe walking alone in their neighbourhood after dark. Crime upstaged
health care, taxes, municipal spending, transportation and the
economy as the top issue in a survey of 4,393 Canadians living in
nine cities and Newfoundland.

Twenty-two per cent of urbanites identified crime as the main issue
in their area; although the results varied widely depending on the
city, with Winnipeg leading the way by far.

The far-reaching poll, conducted for Global News by the Torontobased
research firm Ipsos Reid, surveyed residents of Vancouver, Edmonton,
Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax
from Aug. 14-18.

In a series to be aired this week, Global will detail how Canadians
in each community responded to almost three dozen questions, such as
whether they fear the H1N1 virus, how they feel about Facebook and
whether they are satisfied with their sex lives.

When asked about their specific crime worries, 52% of those polled
said they were "very concerned" about drug activity, as did 43% about
the number of guns on the streets, 41% about random shootings, 39%
about gang activity, and 33% about child abductions.

Twenty-three per cent of those polled strongly agreed that they felt
safe walking alone after dark in their neighbourhoods -- although
another 42% felt somewhat safe.

Also, 87% of urban Canadians either strongly or somewhat agreed that
their community is a great place to live.

"People are concerned about crime, but it's not necessarily in their
own backyard," said Ipsos senior vice-president and pollster John Wright.

"It also depends on what area of the country you are in."

He noted that the national crime rate is steadily falling, yet it
only takes a few news headlines about horrific incidents to breed fear.

The survey found 23% of city dwellers -- almost one in four --
strongly or somewhat agreed they had been victimized by crime in the
past two years.

Wright speculated that the ones who felt only somewhat victimized
were hit with minor crimes that they didn't consider worth reporting
to police -- such as keyed car.

On a national scale, health care rated as the second most pressing
issue at 18%, followed by taxation and municipal spending and transportation.

Only 8% of urban Canadians rated the economy as the top issue
affecting their community and 75% said they "strongly agree" or
"somewhat agree" that the financial fortunes of their province will
improve "in the next year or so."

The survey, which also delved into numerous other hopes and fears,
showed that the H1N1 virus is on the minds of Canadians -- with 50%
reporting that they are strongly or somewhat concerned a family
member will contract the illness within six months.

Other findings were: 60% strongly or somewhat agreed that their sex
life was great, 73% said that people who parade their private lives
on Facebook or You Tube "deserve whatever consequences it brings,"
and 41% reported that they think global warming has been "overblown
and exaggerated."

The survey has a margin of error of 1.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.