Apparently, Canadians are fleeing this country for the verdant splendours of Nicaragua.
Why? To escape the ruin in which Justin Trudeau has left this country after nine years in power.
How do we know this? Well, through another video posted by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, that’s how. Mr. Poilievre recently put up a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he’s talking to a woman who says she once lived in Cape Breton, N.S., but left with her husband for Nicaragua two years ago because Canada had become too expensive.
“It used to be people would flee from countries like Nicaragua to come to places like Canada,” Mr. Poilievre intones. The woman says Nicaragua offers a lower cost of living and “better quality of life.” She also claims that 8,000 other Canadians have made the move there, although a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada says it “doesn’t keep track of this statistic,” so it’s unclear from where the number came.
“This is insane,” Mr. Poilievre says at one point. He promises that when he becomes Prime Minister “we’re going to bring our people home.”
I was intrigued enough by the video to research its claim that Nicaragua offered a better quality of life than Canada. It didn’t take long for that assertion to begin unravelling, fast.
According to a 2022 article in The New York Times, for instance, Nicaraguans were fleeing their country in record numbers to escape poverty and repression under an increasingly authoritarian government.
“For generations, Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere after Haiti, saw only a trickle of its people migrate northward. But soaring inflation, declining wages and the erosion of democracy … have drastically shifted the calculus.” More than 180,000 Nicaraguans crossed into the U.S. through to the end of November, 2022. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, first elected in 2007, has used strongarm tactics to remain in power, installing his wife, Rosario Murillo, as his vice-president.
Sounds so much better than Canada.
Governments around the world have issued strong cautions to anyone considering visiting Nicaragua. Here is Australia’s current travel advisory to its citizens: “Nicaragua has a high crime rate, including armed robbery, assault and express kidnapping,” referring to violent demands for small immediate ransoms, usually by driving the victim to ATMs to withdraw money. “Avoid remote locations. Violent crimes occur in unofficial taxis. Armed gangs operate along the Honduran border.”
It highlights health concerns as well: “Malaria is a risk in rural areas. Insect-borne diseases, including dengue, chikungunya, chagas disease and leishmaniasis are widespread.” It says medical facilities are good in the capital of Managua, “but very limited elsewhere.”
For its part, Canada advises travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution.” It says this is necessary due to the “political situation, the potential for civil unrest and crime.”
It quotes UN reports that say Nicaraguan authorities “undertake arbitrary arrests and detentions; prevent certain individuals from departing Nicaragua by air or land for political reasons; arbitrarily seize and search private property, including personal cell phones and computers for anti-government content; arbitrarily charge individuals with terrorism, money laundering and organized crime offences for political reasons.”
Way better than Canada.
If you’re driving in Nicaragua, the travel advisory cautions, note that road safety is poor throughout the country. Drinking and driving is prevalent. Roadside assistance is not available. Public transportation is unreliable and often overcrowded.
Other travel sites have mentioned the amount of trash that abounds, with rivers and streets often strewn with the stuff. The infrastructure is in pretty rough shape in many places, as well. And you’d better be prepared for the level of despair: Almost 15 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line.
Of course, it isn’t all bad in Nicaragua. It is certainly a beautiful country. There are mountains and lakes and volcanoes and world-class beaches. The average temperature is 27 C. And yes, you can buy a home much more cheaply than you can in Canada.
I guess the question a person needs to ask is whether that bargain they’re getting on a Nicaraguan home is worth everything else that comes with it.
Regardless, it’s pretty poor form for a federal political leader in this country to put out a video suggesting thousands are fleeing Canada for the many wonders of Nicaragua. For all of that country’s merits, to suggest it offers a better life than is available here is a joke.
Mr. Poilievre promises the young woman in his video that when he becomes Prime Minister, his government will bring those who have fled Canada for greener pastures back home.
In the case of Nicaragua, that may mean rescuing Canadians trying to flee a dream that turned into a nightmare.