Canadian travel advisory to Mexico

Canadian travel advisory to Mexico following the impending Hurricane Patricia

Description of the issue

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The most trending issue in the Canada is the story about the Canadian state’s warning to its citizens against travelling to Mexico. This story is found from Canadian media website, www.cbc.ca, which the running title, “Canada warns against travel to Mexico as Hurricane Patricia approaches” (Cbc.ca). This story was posted in this website on October, 23 2015 and has also made appearance on the social media platforms as well as broadcasting newsrooms. This has been the first Canadian travel advisory to Mexico that has come in as a result of climatic hazards that are being brought about by forecasted dangerous hurricanes that are likely to hit most parts of Mexico’s country.

The Canada’s foreign affair department has warned its citizens who lives in part of Mexico that is expected to be hit by massive Hurricane Patricia to seek for shelter and if possible to consider leaving the country for their safety (Cbc.ca). According to meteorological department, this is one of the strongest hurricanes that are expected from history. Over 500 Canadians have registered in the Pacific state of Jalisco, despite a higher estimate of the number of Canadians which is almost 2,000 according to the Foreign Affairs department, Trade and Development of Canada. Among the costal region that are the risk of being hit by hurricanes are from San Blas to Lazaro Cardenas.

Because of this, the Canadian government has advised its citizens who are in those regions to seek for shelter or even if possible to consider leaving the country for their own safety. The government has asked those people who leave by land to do so as soon as possible since there is likely to have the closure of roads at any given time on short notice (Cbc.ca). Following this travel advisory to Mexico, Air Canada and WestJet have also issued travel warnings and subsequently cancelled some of their flights to the area. The Canadian Prime minister, Justin Trudeau has also said that the Canadians’ thoughts are with the Mexican people following the torrential rain, strong winds as well as flooding that they are facing. In addition to this, the Canadian state has promised to support the people of Mexico who are likely to exhibit their characteristic courage as well as resilience in the coming days.

Following the warnings about impending hurricanes, the Residents who were currently staying in southwestern Mexico were evacuated from their hotels and then taken to the concrete buildings which were currently working as their temporary place of shelters. In addition, several other international flights to Mexico have been cancelled out of Calgary, whereas several rescue flights being expected to be offered to the Mexican government as soon as the airlines can safely do so.

Critical analysis of the story and its presentation in the media

According to Harding (2005), the Aboriginal media has been given the room to broadcast important information that is of help to its people. One of it is about creating awareness to the people in case of something that is likely to take place. This is one of the role that the media is expected to play. Following this story of impending danger of the hurricanes that is likely to take place, the media as played its part in creating awareness to the Aboriginal people about their safety in the foreign land (Rothenbuhler et al, p 193). This is something that is very recommendable. As stated by Harding, “Historically, the Canadian news media have functioned as a loyal auxiliary of the state, given to excesses of ethnocentrism and outright racism” (Harding, p 315). This means that it has been the work of the media to enlighten the people of the country about what is likely to take place. In this case, the media has taken its initiative to create awareness and ensure safety of its people. This is something that is very recommendable for the media.

The Aboriginal people from the past have always been so much interested in what was being written or reported about them and for this reason, there has been the attempt to set the records straight. All the media was then expected to be very keen on whatever they try to report. Anything that comes from the media was being treated with a lot of authenticity as it always had a vital significance to the Aboriginal people (Keim, et al, p 254). Because of this, media houses have always been very attentive on any information that is being shared. For example, in this case, such information on the travel advisory is likely to receive different speculation to the people. Mexican people may interpret it differently (Zapata et al, p 125). But since this information is authentic, it is well received by all of the parties, both the Canadians and Mexican government, as the Canadian state has offered to support the people of Mexico following the devastating nature of the torrential rains, floods and hurricanes that are going to be experienced.

Based on the findings in Harding’s article, “common sense about Aboriginal issues is framed by the media in ways that preclude Aboriginal people as being “ready” to exercise complete control over lives” (Harding, p 330). Following the warning issued by the media, it is expected that the Canadian people will have to take a chance to secure their own lives without the state having to intervene into the issue. It is expected that the people who got the information will respond and leave the country for their own safety. The conclusion on the Aboriginal people about their cautious nature is taken as natural, logical and in the other way so inevitable.

Mexico has been known to be among the countries that are most affected by hurricanes. Such occurrences in most of the cases always resulted to the death of hundreds of people, especially when there has been no enough sensitization to the people about the likelihood of such things occurring (Zapata et al, p 69). Media has the role of creating awareness from the past about the anything that can affect the people. Following this role, the Canadian media also has the mandate to protect its citizens from the cases of hurricanes that might pose danger to the life of its citizens (Rothenbuhler et al, p 13).  It therefore has the role to ensure that people get information of what is likely to take place, so that they can take caution as soon as possible. Such stories will always hit the news headlines until the situation is silenced and things come back to normal.

The Mexican Hurricanes as from the previous records always begin in June and lasts through November. In addition to this, history tells that the most destructive hurricanes always strike in September and October. During this time, the warm ocean water which fuel the storms in this time reaches the peak temperatures (Keim, et al, p 254). Ever since the most destructive hurricanes which occurs in October, every impeding hurricanes have always incited a lot of furry of the travel cancellation and travel advisories in to the country and especially to the regions that are most likely to be hit by hurricanes. Subsequently, there is always hotel evacuations as well as boarded-up windows. This reactions are most of the time frenzied, but it has never been unjustified. For example, the past 15 seasons of hurricanes have come along with storms with an increasing frequency as well as intensity (Zapata et al, p 32). Following the historical occurrence of hurricanes in Mexico, the media had to remind people about it and therefore the need for this article. This is the reason as to why it has been so persistent than any other news that has been told to people of Canada.

Politically, every government has the rights to protect its citizens from being affected in any way. The media can be used by the state to spread information that is aimed at protecting its citizens at any cost. For example, in case of anything that may affect the citizens of a certain country, the state will have to use the media in passing the information across the people so that people may be informed about any calamity that may occur and affect them. In this case, the government has used the media to pass across the information to its people who are residing in Mexico. From the information in the article, only 500 Canadians have registered to be staying in Mexico. This number is far much below those exactly staying there as the number may be even more than 2,000 people who are staying in Mexico (Keim, et al, p 144). This is very big number, and the country cannot just assume them. For this reason, the state has therefore used the media to spread information to its citizens.

There is also political factors that are being put in place in this article. The Canadian government is devoted to ensure that all its people are well protected against hurricanes. In addition to this, the state has also assured Mexico that it will be ready to offer full support to curb the effects that are being faced by the people of Mexico such as torrential rainfall, storms, and floods among others. Emergency flights will even be sent to Mexico in the efforts of ensuring that the lives of people are protected (Keim, et al, p 193). This is a political initiative that will be done by the Canadian state to ensure that both its citizens and Mexicans are not affected by the impending destructive Hurricane Patricia that has been predicted by the meteorological department. The story has a direct linkage with the political context as this is a state affair. The matter that is being solved or being addressed is being done at a national level and it involved two countries (Rothenbuhler et al, p 234). Both countries are involved as even from the story, the Canadian prime minister has also aired his view on the story, stating that the Canadians who are currently staying in Mexico should consider coming back to their country before the boarders are being closed.

The story has an economic landscape as seen from the story. The economic factors lies in the side of the affected country, and in our case is Mexico. Call off any visits to Mexico as well as travel advisories to Mexico is an economic threat to the Mexican economy. There will be loss of foreign exchange flowing in the country as there will be no people visiting the country. This will result to closure of businesses in some parts of the country, such as the hotels which will be evacuated following the dangers of impending hurricanes which had previously shown some signs of being dangerous. This is a big economic challenge to the economy of Mexico in one way or the other. In addition to this, the story takes an economic landscape as there will be less visitors in the country as a result of hurricanes.

Canada too will be affected economically following the story on the travel advisory to Mexico. Most of those Canadian citizens who are staying in Mexico are on business. Following this story, they will have to close up their businesses so that they can come back to their country for their own safety. This has one of the economic impact that will come in following the media covering of this story. In addition to this, all of the exports to Mexico will have to be stopped following the media covering and travel advisories to Mexico (Keim, et al, p 173). Furthermore, most of the flights to Mexico have been cancelled as a result of the warning in the story. This is an economic impact to the people in both country.

The social landscape of the story comes in in different ways. Following the story, the social interaction of people across the border is affected. There will be no free movement of people from Mexico to Canada as the Canadian government announced the closure of the roads heading from Mexico to Canada. In addition, all of the fights operating between the two countries have been cancelled following the stern warning about the forecasted hurricanes that are said that will take place in Mexico.

Another social force behind the story is that, the media plays a significant role in making sure that there is no any kind of social injustices that take place to the people in a certain country. Because of the story, most of the Canadians who are in Mexico will find their way home as there is likelihood that they may face some social injustices in while in Mexico. For this reason, the media is seen to play a very significant role in ensuring safety of its people both locally and internationally.

This story has been linked to the meteorological warnings that are even being broadcasted in Mexico. Following the story, many people have responded to this call for the Canadian state to evacuate its people from Mexico (Keim, et al, p 82). Other flights leading to Mexico from Canada have been cancelled too. In addition to this, Canadian emergency troops have been scheduled to be sent to Mexico in case there is any need.

Conclusion

To conclude, the story has a significant meaning to the people. From the story, the value and message that is being communicated in the story is the need for cohesion among the people in the country. From this story, it can be seen that the government is very protective to its citizens as a way to enhance national cohesion. In addition, national cohesion is also being seen when the Canadian government is willing to support Mexico in this catastrophe. Following this story, all of the people that are staying Mexico who are of Canadian origin are expected to leave the country for their own safety.

Work cited

Cbc.ca,. ‘Canada Warns Against Travel To Mexico As Hurricane Patricia Approaches’. N.p., 2015. Web. 24 Oct. 2015. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hurricane-patricia-canadians-1.3286535

Harding, Robert. ‘The Media, Aboriginal People And Common Sense’. The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 25.1 (2005): 311-335. Print.

Keim, Barry D, and Robert A Muller. Hurricanes Of The Gulf Of Mexico. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2009. Print.

Rothenbuhler, Eric W, and Mihai Coman. Media Anthropology. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2005. Print.

Zapata Martí, Ricardo. The 2004 Hurricanes In The Caribbean And The Tsunami In The Indian Ocean. México, D.F.: Naciones Unidas, Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe-CEPAL, 2005. Print.