Much of the smoke has now dissipated over parts of Mexico, including the popular tourist destination of Puerto Vallarta, but the Government of Canada is still advising people to exercise a large degree of caution for anyone travelling in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe air quality yesterday was just terrible with all of the cars burning and the toxic fumes, so it did create some havoc on the lungs, and of course, given what was going on, it created anxiety for a lot of people,\u201d said Quentin Harty.<\/p>\n
Harty has been going to Puerto Vallarta with his wife for 12 years and says this is the first time he\u2019s ever experienced this kind of violence. He says cars and other vehicles have been torched by cartels in strategic areas, and numerous Oxxo Convenience stores have also been set ablaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Monday, the scene was different, with reports of people lining up for food and supplies following the turmoil, but he said they have no plans to shorten their stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could probably compare the streets now to the aftermath of the pandemic. The streets are very quiet,\u201d said Harty.<\/p>\n
While he never feared for his safety, Harty says information from both the resort he\u2019s staying at and from the Government of Canada has been slow, as when they tried to register with the Canadian Consular Services, it was inaccessible, the two getting much of their information from friends and their local network.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mexican officials report at least 73 people died in an attempt by special forces to capture \u201cEl Mencho.\u201d The dead included security forces, suspected cartel members, and others.<\/p>\n
Premier Wab Kinew\u2019s office noted he had a phone meeting with Canada\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand to ensure the provincial government is kept in the loop on any developments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Audrey Stetski lives in Cranbrook, B.C., but says her heart is still in Winnipeg and her brother, who lives just outside the city, remains in Mexico with his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s my only brother, and he\u2019s a good brother. So you worry about family, and you just think: \u2018Oh my goodness. Let\u2019s hope they\u2019re safe,\u2019\u201d said Stetski.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear if he\u2019ll be able to fly out of Puerto Vallarta as planned on Tuesday to spread his sister\u2019s ashes, as she passed away earlier this month, but she says she\u2019ll be watching closely and praying for updates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be really happy to hear that they\u2019ve landed here. Back in Canada and home safely,\u201d said Stetski.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Much of the smoke has now dissipated over parts of Mexico, including the popular tourist destination of Puerto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495366,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-495365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}