Canada lost its top 10 ranking of the most peaceful countries, according to the 2022 Global Peace Index (GPI) released this week..Canada fell four spots in its ranking on the GPI, from 8th place to 12th..“The pandemic pushed many countries towards economic and political crises, while also heightening levels of anti-government sentiment and distrust of authority,” the report stated..“Countries that had become progressively more peaceful experienced outbreaks of protests and violence aimed particularly at the government’s handling of the pandemic.”.The report said while Canada remains the most peaceful country in the region, its overall score deteriorated by 4.8%. This decline was driven by increases in "political terror scale and violent demonstrations indicators."."This was largely driven by anti-government sentiment in response to pandemic restrictions which resulted in large scale protests, namely the blockades at Ambassador Bridge that occurred in early 2022," the report said..But it said there were also major improvements in the terrorism impact and nuclear weapons and heavy weapons indicators..The GPI uses 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators each weighted on a scale of 1-5, and measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of societal safety and security, the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict, and and the degree of militarization..Seven of the 10 countries at the top of the GPI are in Europe, Iceland remaining the most peaceful country, a position it 's held since 2008. The United States is ranked 129th on the list, having fallen one spot from last year.
