A safe city – but we don’t feel it
Montreal remains the safest city of its size in North America, but we’re not feeling it, admits the police chief in a statement on Tuesday.
Fady Dagher doesn’t discuss this, but he should be thinking about it: if people feel edgy even while the statistics show crime is low, and begin to desert the streets – especially after dark – and to avoid public transit, it can damage the city in the long run. It’s the presence of people, all kinds of people conducting their lives in the city, that keeps it safe. Not the police.
Most of the point in the linked pieces – English and French translations of the same CP piece – is that the presence of unruly and unpredictable homeless people can be unsettling to others using the space. Dagher mentions various plans to help them, but the fact that our economy is constantly pushing more people onto the street as others are helped off it is not something the police can fix.
azrhey 20:43 on 2026-02-10 Permalink
Not to whip a dead horse, but since I have been back in Montreal, early 2018:
-times I have felt unsafe in the streets or public spaces in Montreal : 0
-times I fell down while walking because of a pot-hole or other concrete issue on the sidewalks that require hospital visits and medical leave from work : 3
-times I fell uncomfortable and ashamed while witnessing human misery on the streets or public spaces : every day I left the house
But yeah, let’s keep spending time and a money on issue one, while ignoring 2 and 3 (and I am not saying it is all honey and roses, I am sure some people do feel and actually are unsafe from time to time, but I am a middle aged while woman and safety isn’t a problem in Montreal. Making people like me feel more safe will not solve the problem of other people suffering. And pot holes. and uneven sidewalks)
Kevin 22:48 on 2026-02-10 Permalink
I like to periodically remind people that the reason you hear about violent crime is because it is rare. We live in a city where a non-lethal stabbing makes headlines.
Chris 23:25 on 2026-02-10 Permalink
OTOH, death and violence are not the only things to fear. One can “feel unsafe” because one fears being robbed, yelled at, etc. (Heck, some woke types “feel unsafe” because of words spoken to them.) So it really depends what people mean when they say they’re “not feeling it”.
thomas 02:11 on 2026-02-11 Permalink
The SAQ Le Village closed last week. I spoke with an employee who said the main reasons were ongoing theft but primarily difficulty retaining staff, as some employees felt unsafe due to frequent confrontations with addicts.
MarcG 08:37 on 2026-02-11 Permalink
Chris, I wonder if it wouldn’t be beneficial to your personal development to seek out some “woke” spaces in real life and put in some volunteer hours, see if your ideas hold up in the face of reality.
Andrew 09:37 on 2026-02-11 Permalink
We also have one of the most expensive police forces for a city of this size. Arguably they could help fix problems caused by the economy by not monopolizing so much of the budget and allowing for more social assistance.
Ephraim 09:51 on 2026-02-11 Permalink
Let’s see… I know of at least 2 incidents this week… Maestro SVP, is one of them and the other is McGill’s Medical school https://www.thesuburban.com/news/city_news/antisemitic-graffiti-found-at-mcgills-faculty-of-medicine/article_824bd97c-2dfb-417b-87ef-25afe711fe6f.html. And let us not forget that ongoing saga at a Nautilus Gym.
Safe is VERY relative
Meezly 14:37 on 2026-02-11 Permalink
When media talks about Montreal being one of the “safest” cities, I’d like to understand better the criteria for what makes “safer city”. Usually, it means relatively lower rates of violent crime and homicides which paints such a narrow scope. There are so many various factors in what makes a city relatively safe for all.
EmilyG 18:30 on 2026-02-11 Permalink
Chris, why are you so offended by “woke” people that you again have to bring them up on a blog entry that has nothing to do with them, once again?