The truth is that most of Canada is almost as safe as Yucatán.

Douglas Anthony Cooper on how not to get beheaded in Mexico from the Huffington Post Canada. Snarky but factual.

Let's put this in perspective. Imagine a nice family from Mérida planning their vacation in Canada. They do research on the internet, and decide that some things are just too risky. Tea at the Empress Hotel, for instance. Victoria BC is the second most dangerous city in Canada? "Butchart Gardens" must be Canadian slang for "the place where people get butchered."

So our family turns elsewhere. Hmm. Probably best to avoid "Edmonton's Murder Belt." Aiee. We'll go east. Regina? Are you out of your mind? "Saskatchewan reported the highest Crime Severity Index, followed by Manitoba." How about the East Coast? Not if our worried Mexican family cares about that crime severity thing: "St. John's had the largest increase." This is awful.

At last, after carefully considering Prince Edward Island, our sensible family decides it is just not worth the risk. (After all, homicide in PEI has skyrocketed.) You would have to be a fool to leave Mexico.

Mexico is not a Place

The Vancouver Sun
says....Mexico is not a place. It is a bunch of places, and some of them are safer than places in Canada.

I had a great time in Yucatan province last week, inland from Playa del Carmen. We rented a car and drove to Chichen Itza, which is stunning, and spent a happy night at a fiesta among the welcoming people of the colonial city of Vallodilid, watching proud young people dancing in beautiful, hand-embroidered clothes.

The murder rate in Yucatan is 2 per 100,000. Thunder Bay's murder rate is 4.2 per 100,000.