In the heart of Canadian borders lies a province that is unlike any other in the region. It has its own personality, its own language and its own version of history and how it came to be. Quebec is the only french proving found within these borders and the city of Montreal specifically boasts a french vibe with a very multicultural society to add to the unique experience every tourist comes looking for when planning a visit to the city. Local Montrealers are elated by the idea that you can walk down any of our main streets downtown and enjoy food and music from across the globe without leaving the comfort of your hometown until recently.

Pauline Marois, the 30th Premier of Quebec and leader of the Parti Quebecois, took it upon herself to give the province a well-deserved facelift. How you might ask is she going about doing this? Well, she has decided to attempt to pass a law that will forbid the donning of any religious symbols in any public sector jobs; religious symbols include everything from the jewish kippa to the sikh turban all the while not forgetting to add the muslim hijab. At a time when war is looming above the heads of innocent syrians and people are dying in order to demand the right to a democracy in Egypt and Bahrain, Marois is fighting against people's right to practice their own religion in the city they live in without bothering anyone else.

It's interesting to see this taking place because in response to this, I heard many people simply say they would move to the nicer and more welcoming english side of the country and set up camp there. None of us are tied down by a chain to Quebec and so leaving would be very easy on many of us, especially for those immigrants who have not mastered the french language and still suffer from huffs and puffs of frustration from shopkeepers and sales reps that joined the movement "Ici, On commerce en Francais". Life across the border in Ontario is like a safe haven to these people who left their countries because of repressive regimes and dictatorships only to find themselves living under yet another government that oversteps its boundaries. What happened to freedom of expression and all that fancy stuff they talk about during their election campaigns?

Consider this fair warning Premier Marois, if your plan to stomp on our freedom to practice our religion openly and without feeling threatened works out, you will most likely lose a huge portion of the population you think you control. None are willing to succumb to your ridiculously racist demands and seeing as we aren't chained to the Fleur de Lis we can very well pack up and move anywhere we wish leaving you to ponder the next great racist scheme you want to apply to this beautiful province.

And if you consider telling any of us to go back to our countries the response you should expect is as follows: On est deja dans notre pays Madame Marois.