Far be it from me to question to media, but this doesn't sound like coyotes. Of course if you could hike with a handgun in Canada, it wouldn't matter.
I could be wrong, but it seems likely that a lot of the coyotes are mixed breed with domestic dogs.
When we lived in the very rural Ozarks, all the dogs had to be fed inside, there was NO feed outside to attract the coyotes, but they were certainly around. Our dogs were always neutered, but most of our neighbors didn’t do that...lots of dogs were dropped off in the country to make their own way, plus hunting dogs are out and around...
Those mixed breed ones can be large, have bad temperaments, run in packs, and in general cause trouble.
I’m sure similar mixes occur in suburbs, maybe even cities. Coyotes seem to be opportunists, go where the food is, even downtown at night for restaurant castoff...