This Is Actually Sad

The small Canadian town of Herouxville in Quebec is making the news today because of a new set of rules the town council voted into place. The new rules say immigrants to the town must "not stone women in public, burn them alive or throw acid on them" among other things.

Why is this even necessary?

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Immigrants to the small Quebec town of Herouxville must not stone women in public, burn them alive or throw acid on them, according to an extraordinary set of rules made public by the local council.

The declaration, published on the town's Web site, has deepened a debate in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province over how tolerant Quebecers should be towards the customs and traditions of immigrants.

"We wish to inform these new arrivals that the way of life which they abandoned when they left their countries of origin cannot be recreated here," said the declaration, which also says women are allowed to drive, vote, dance, write checks, dress how they want, work and own property.

"Therefore we consider it completely outside these norms to … kill women by stoning them in public, burning them alive, burning them with acid, circumcising them etc."

No one on the town council was immediately available for comment on Tuesday. Herouxville, which has 1,300 inhabitants, is about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Montreal.

Andre Drouin, the councillor who came up with the idea of the declaration, told the National Post newspaper that the town was not racist.

"We invite people from all nationalities, all languages, all sexual orientations, whatever, to come live with us, but we want them to know ahead of time how we live," he said.

The regulations say girls and boys can exercise together and people should only be allowed to cover their faces at Halloween. Children must not take weapons to school, although the Supreme Court of Canada has already ruled that Sikh boys have the right to carry ceremonial daggers.

This should not even be a topic of conversation. And yet it is in Canada. How far does Canadian society have to go to accommodate immigrants or tolerate other's beliefs? How long until this debate rears its ugly head here in the US? If you want to live in the West, you must be willing to live with its rules. This should not even need to be discussed.