The town of Herouxville, Que., wants immigrants that fit in with its citizens

[sanctus]

HEROUXVILLE, Que. (CP) - The rural Quebec town of Herouxville says it has received about 2,000 emails in support of its rules for immigrants.
Coun. Andre Drouin says it's not that the community of about 1,300 doesn't want immigrants - it doesn't have any - but it just wants them to fit in. Among the rules passed recently by the town's council are: No stoning women and making sure women are allowed to drive cars.
Drouin says the resolution defines the citizens of the central Quebec town.
Premier Jean Charest said today that Quebec is a tolerant society and the town's resolution is an isolated case.
Quebec is in the middle of a debate about what is considered reasonable accommodation of racial, ethnic and religious minorities.


Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press

 

[canadarocks]

HEROUXVILLE, Que. (CP) - The rural Quebec town of Herouxville says it has received about 2,000 emails in support of its rules for immigrants.
Coun. Andre Drouin says it's not that the community of about 1,300 doesn't want immigrants - it doesn't have any - but it just wants them to fit in. Among the rules passed recently by the town's council are: No stoning women and making sure women are allowed to drive cars.
Drouin says the resolution defines the citizens of the central Quebec town.
Premier Jean Charest said today that Quebec is a tolerant society and the town's resolution is an isolated case.
Quebec is in the middle of a debate about what is considered reasonable accommodation of racial, ethnic and religious minorities.


Copyright © 2007 Canadian Press

Clearly this is a bylaw aimed mostly at Muslim immigrants. I must be honest and say I applaud their efforts int his regard. However, even having said that, I am honestly uncomfortable with the mindset behind this move. Who next might they not want, blacks? Protestants? Catholics? It just never stops once it begins...

 

[marygaspe]

Clearly this is a bylaw aimed mostly at Muslim immigrants. I must be honest and say I applaud their efforts int his regard. However, even having said that, I am honestly uncomfortable with the mindset behind this move. Who next might they not want, blacks? Protestants? Catholics? It just never stops once it begins...

Good points. I wonder if such a decision by this town council is truly enforcable? After all, we do have a Bill of rights and a Constitution giving everyone equal status.

 

[ottawabill]

but that town has blacks and Protestants (baptist to be specific) .....

 

[marygaspe]

but that town has blacks and Protestants (baptist to be specific) .....

I think canadarocks was just making the point that if a town, any town, starts insisting people must be a certain way to live there, it only becomes easier to stop something else they don't care for.

 

[tamarin]

It is an enormously brave thing to do in a country that resents dissent. Ever since the 1982 mess and the enforcement of the Trudeau Charter, people have chaffed at the co-opting of their country by the political elite. Canadians want what other western countries have- freedom. Taking a stand against the Philistinism of Political Correctness that has debilitated so much of what once was the envy of the world is a damn good start.
Today we are all Herouxvillians! Sounds like a cheap line from one of those 9/11 New York trailers. Hey, what the heck!

 

[ottawabill]

I think canadarocks was just making the point that if a town, any town, starts insisting people must be a certain way to live there, it only becomes easier to stop something else they don't care for.

I don't think they are so much insisting that you be a certain way as to NOT be a certain way....

We do this all the time in a society. You are free to do as you like within certain confinds. You are not part of the society if you do not conform to the society norms.... You can't go out and kill someone. There are some places in the world where killing your neighbour under certain conditions is proper...i.e. family honour etc....but not here...this set of people in Quebec are just stating something the rest of us are to shy to admit....we have a way of life,,and would like to keep it.

 

[hermanntrude]

they dont really need to insist upon not stoning women, as that in itself would be a crime. and preventing a woman from driving would be dodgy too, after all how would u do it? She's allowed by law to get a lisence and a car, the only way you can stop her is by physically forcing her which would be assault or imprisonment.

If someone tells someone else not to do something (like driving a car) it's their business to say "i'm allowed to do that, and you can't stop me"

 

[marygaspe]

they dont really need to insist upon not stoning women, as that in itself would be a crime. and preventing a woman from driving would be dodgy too, after all how would u do it? She's allowed by law to get a lisence and a car, the only way you can stop her is by physically forcing her which would be assault or imprisonment.

If someone tells someone else not to do something (like driving a car) it's their business to say "i'm allowed to do that, and you can't stop me"

Muslim men, if traditional, do not allow women to drive.

 

[tamarin]

I think what the town is doing is making a point. It's obvious that Muslim communities world-wide are growing in size and influence. And they value strict adherence to the faith. Ontario has already dodged an attempt to legalize sharia law in Muslim community life here. The province will be asked again and again as the years go by and Muslim numbers increase. Is the West asleep at the switch? Not in Herouxville!

 

[ottawabill]

they dont really need to insist upon not stoning women, as that in itself would be a crime. and preventing a woman from driving would be dodgy too, after all how would u do it? She's allowed by law to get a lisence and a car, the only way you can stop her is by physically forcing her which would be assault or imprisonment.

If someone tells someone else not to do something (like driving a car) it's their business to say "i'm allowed to do that, and you can't stop me"

Just call up some Toronto news..and you will see how it affects these women..no mater what Candain law say.... Wives being killed, daughter murdered for going out with non muslim men..wives who are no allowed out of the house let alone drive.... Women covered from head to toe in Montreal while they men walk around with western clothes living any way they feel....

Watch tv...look at Iraq on the news..do you ever see a women on the streets....they are home...inside..always!!

 

[Northboy]

Clearly this is a bylaw aimed mostly at Muslim immigrants. I must be honest and say I applaud their efforts int his regard. However, even having said that, I am honestly uncomfortable with the mindset behind this move. Who next might they not want, blacks? Protestants? Catholics? It just never stops once it begins...

where's the balance, given public discernment and keeping all factors in consideration??

 

[sanctus]

I think what the town is doing is making a point. It's obvious that Muslim communities world-wide are growing in size and influence. And they value strict adherence to the faith. Ontario has already dodged an attempt to legalize sharia law in Muslim community life here. The province will be asked again and again as the years go by and Muslim numbers increase. Is the West asleep at the switch? Not in Herouxville!

There are less then half a million Muslims in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. Don't you think that perhaps, just perhaps, we are starting to over-react a bit? In the larger cities, especially in Ontario, they are more numerous, but I bet you most of the towns in Canada do NOT have many Muslims living in them.

 

[sanctus]

I don't think they are so much insisting that you be a certain way as to NOT be a certain way....
t.

Just semantics, since in the end both come out the same in the wash.

 

[sanctus]

Clearly this is a bylaw aimed mostly at Muslim immigrants. I must be honest and say I applaud their efforts int his regard. However, even having said that, I am honestly uncomfortable with the mindset behind this move. Who next might they not want, blacks? Protestants? Catholics? It just never stops once it begins...

The article certainly makes it seem so, but maybe not. I'd be interested to read the entire resolution drawn up by the town.

 

[tamarin]

Sanctus, that's not the point. And the question to you is easy: When do you start to react? When the horse is out of the barn or kicking in the stall? As I've said, sharia law made headlines in Ontario last year. An attempt was made to get its official sanction from the Ontario government. Wisely, it turned it down. But that's merely act one in a long play to come.

 

[mapleleafgirl]

Sanctus, that's not the point. And the question to you is easy: When do you start to react? When the horse is out of the barn or kicking in the stall? As I've said, sharia law made headlines in Ontario last year. An attempt was made to get its official sanction from the Ontario government. Wisely, it turned it down. But that's merely act one in a long play to come.

okay, im just asking so everybody take a downer..im not saying i support it, but just cuious, so what is lots of muslims move to canada? i mean, as long as they obey the laws who cares what religion they are??again, just asking!!!!

 

[tamarin]

I think Muslims make great citizens. Most are law abiding and hardworking. It's the extreme element and the fundamentalist element I'm worried about. They're not so much interested in obeying our laws as eventually replacing them with their own.

 

[hermanntrude]

the thing is, we cant force muslim men to say "you can drive" because the law already provides that they can. If their man says "you must not drive" they have a choice available to them. They can either risk the wrath of their man (who will be punished if he does anything he shouldnt) and drive anyway, or they can decide not to drive, to please their man. If it were me i think i'd take the car and drive somewhere remote, start a new life.

 

[sanctus]

Sanctus, that's not the point. And the question to you is easy: When do you start to react? When the horse is out of the barn or kicking in the stall? As I've said, sharia law made headlines in Ontario last year. An attempt was made to get its official sanction from the Ontario government. Wisely, it turned it down. But that's merely act one in a long play to come.

I understand the concern, but I wonder if sometimes we are reacting in such a fashion because of the events in the Middle East. After all, not all that long ago our country tried to keep out non-whites for much the same reasons.