I too think the world of IslandGem and her contributions to TTOL but in this specific instance and talking specifically about the change in "Travel Advisory" as made by Canada in regard to the both sides of the island, Miss Sunfish was correct. The reason for the change in the advisory was specifically about the lingering effects of Irma as referenced on the Canadian Government's webpage. The direct line referencing the change is "Exercise a high degree of caution in Sint Maarten due to damage caused by Hurricane Irma." (also, this was issued 3 days before the start of the new hurricane season) They use this same exact line when referencing the French side of the island. Nothing about the change in "Advisory" is attributed to anything else.

On the Canadian Government travel site, if you click on the "Safety and Security" tab when on the page referencing St Maarten, they say most visits are trouble free but that there are incidents of crime and most of it is petty crime. They go on to make the same recommendations that we have all heard about being aware of your surroundings and locking things up.

Let's stop making a simple thing like the change in Advisory from Canada a big hullabaloo about crime being so horrific on the island, especially when the change had nothing to do with crime.