Quebec Might Lead The Blind Out Of The Wilderness

It is ironic, but not surprising, that a province that is known for it's suspension of civil liberties of anglophones would be the home for a movement to rein in diversity and set an example for all of Canada. But in fairness to the people in these two towns Ontario has taken similar action when they denied the implementaion of Shiara law.

Quebec town spawns uneasy debate
Accommodation of religious and ethnic minorities reveals ugly urban-rural split
February 05, 2007
Sean Gordon
QUEBEC BUREAU CHIEF

MONTREAL–The hamlet of Saint-Roch-de-Mékinac, home to 308 souls, perches on the banks of the St. Maurice River, hard by the verdant hills of La Mauricie National Park.

According to the most recent Statistics Canada figures, there are precisely zero foreign-born residents in the town and zero visible minorities, neither of which has deterred Saint-Roch's civic leaders from adopting a code of conduct for new arrivals.

The document, which was approved unanimously at a council meeting Friday night, mirrors a citizens' code adopted by nearby Hérouxville, which solemnly forbids stoning women, the donning of burqas, and wearing Sikh ceremonial daggers in school.

"This should have been done here long ago," Claude Dumont, Saint-Roch's elected mayor, said last week.

Dumont admitted he doesn't know much about immigrant communities and that "we don't live with them side-by-side here like they do in Montreal, but if I've chosen to live here it's because I like the way we live ... and I don't want it to change."

While the council decisions in Hérouxville and Saint-Roch have been vigorously attacked for being over-the-top, there is nevertheless strong public support for a discussion on how far a society should go to accommodate religious and ethnic minorities.

more