Way To Go Australia

When it comes to the email I find cluttering my Inbox each day I'm sure you're like me and you've had enough of the ads for Viagra, Cialis, OEM Software and How To Improve Your Sex Life.

Combine that with all of the legitimate people I know who send me funny videos, stories, jokes, photos, cartoons and all manner of things which can either be really interesting and funny or just plain crap. I don't ask people to stop sending me stuff because I do enjoy some of it but it's just a matter of sorting through it all to find the really good stuff.

Every so often I get warnings from friends about new viruses to be on the lookout for and while I appreciate the concern, more often than not, these email's are just hoaxes designed by individuals who only want to scare people and further spread their lies. I have actually seen e-mails asking people to search for a virus on their computer and when they find it to delete it immediately. The only problem is, the item they want you to find is actually a vital file or executable program that your computer needs to run smoothly.

I do my best to remind folks that before they get into a panic, they should visit websites like Snopes.com or McAfee.com and do a little research before hitting forward on their email program. 99.9% of the time you'll find that these are hoaxes.

This brings me to the whole point of this discussion. I had received the following e-mail several times and just dismissed it as a hoax, lie or farce and deleted it. Then one day I decided to do a little research and as it turns out, the whole thing is quite true. Perhaps you've seen this as well but here is what the e-mail says:

CANBERRA AUSTRALIA: Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown.

Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that australia was a secular state and its laws were made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you," he said on national television. "I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another the Islamic law, that is false.

If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to other country which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option," Costello said. Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country.

Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off". "Basically, people who don't want to be Australians, and they don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then they can basically clear off," he said. Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.

I have to say that I think this is brilliant. The 'politically correct' people are no doubt fired up by this and feel this is wrong but I for one am thrilled to see a government stand up for itself and do its best to protect its nationalism.

I would love to see more of this in Canada. For the record, I'm not against immigration and if people from other parts of the world wish to come to Canada to start a new life or improve their situation, the more the merrier. However, if you are coming to Canada and wish to be Canadian then you need to do it 100%. You can not be Canadian only when it's beneficial to you.

This is one thing that bothers me about those in Quebec who wish to separate. If you don't like the country you're living in, then go live somewhere else. We may have two official languages but we don't have multiple levels of being a Canadian citizen. You're either in or you're out.

In Australia, they're not saying that if you're Muslim you have to leave but they are saying, if you want to live here then you need to play by our rules and I commend them for that. Children going to school in Canada should only be carrying their backpacks or lunches...not their ceremonial daggers.

I don't have a problem with Canada being filled with people of all walks of life but when they don't embrace their new found country and instead try to force the laws to change to benefit their beliefs, that is where they lose my support. If you live in Canada you MUST be Canadian first and foremost.

I dare say you'll never hear a gutless Canadian politician stand up for Canada like their Australian counterparts have done, and that's a damn shame.

(Let the feedback begin)