I wonder about the motivations of whoever started the misinformation, but it also says something about the credulous public who spread it. Vancouver is one of the safest cities in North America. Crime severity, including violent crime, is not even top 20 amongst cities in BC, much less Canada. It’s safer to raise your kids in Vancouver than many rural BC towns.

And yet, fear over crime is rampant. It makes no sense. It’s how the conservative ABC swept the last municipal election. Conservatives win on fear and division. We’re seeing that with the misinformation about immigrant crime being spread in Europe, with the subsequent rightwing riots.