'Not reflective of life here': North Battleford tops Maclean's list of most dangerous Canadian cities

North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater says a recent crime ranking by Maclean's magazine only paints a small picture of life in Saskatchewan's seventh largest city.

"That is not reflective of life here,"Batersaid. "What's being reflected in these crime statistics and their associated stories is one aspect of the community."

The magazine released their annual list of the most dangerous cities in Canada earlier this week. The rankings are based on crime severity index using data from Statistics Canada.

North Battleford finished top of the list for all crime, youth crime, firearms offences and impaired driving.

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"People who do live here and do visit here see much more than just these crime stats," Bater said.

Batersaid he worries the rankings will deter people from going to North Battleford because theydistractfrom positive aspects of the city.

"We have the best recreationfacilitiesin Saskatchewan. A lot of people don't know that.

"We have a lot of economic activity," he said. "There's a lot of investment going on in the community right now."

Bater also noted some of the events the city recently hosted, including the 2018 Saskatchewan Winter Games.

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Bater saidhe recognizes North Battleford has a high crime rate.

"It's something that we're working on and it's a high priority for our city," he said.

"Our citizens know it's a high priority and we have a lot of irons in the fire to address it."

He commended the provincefor its recent implementation of the Crime Reduction Team, which operates out of North Battleford and Prince Albert, but saidthe city needs more help from the provincial and federal government.

Hesaid he would like to see more provincial help for people struggling with addictions and mental health, as well asadditional assistance from thefederal government to address youth crime.

- With files from CBC Radio's Afternoon Edition