Hérouxville, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Hérouxville is a parish municipality in Quebec
(Canada
), located in the Regional county municipality
(RCM) of Mékinac
, and in the administrative region of Mauricie
. It was founded in 1897. A small rural
farming town, its main economic activity is agriculture.
Hérouxville is directly on the route to Saint-Tite
and the Festival western de Saint-Tite
, in addition to being the northeast gateway to Mauricie, a region renowned for its lush forests and quaint villages. It is located within the Laurentian Forest region, which has many lakes and rivers. The town centre of is in the style of the seigneurial
period.
, francophone
, and nominally Catholic
.
Other rural communities in the region of Mékinac
are also considering similar codes, despite featuring few or no immigrants at all.
The mayor and the municipal council approved a code of behavior for immigrants
, which occurred in the context of a debate on "reasonable accommodation
" for other cultures in Quebec
. The code forbade carrying a weapon to school (even if symbolic), covering one's face, and indicated that accommodation of prayer in school will not be permitted. It also stated that stoning
women or burning them alive is prohibited, as is female genital cutting
. It attests that "Our people eat to nourish the body, not the soul", and that health-care professionals "do not have to ask permission to perform blood transfusions."
The code was widely criticized as being premised on racist and insulting cultural stereotypes.
The Montreal Gazette noted that "while the values espoused might be universal, the code has sparked an international controversy because the intention appears to be to scare off newcomers with a code that presumes the worst of them."
Quebec Premier
Jean Charest
called Herouxville's measures "exaggerated" after Town Councillor André Drouin appeared on a popular Quebec television show called Tout le monde en parle
and said the reasonable accommodation situation had reached a state of emergency
in Quebec. The town later revised the standards after a delegation of Muslim women from the Canadian Islamic Congress came to meet townspeople.
The original version of this document was published in French. The translation into English was done by an unknown party and is not identical to the original. An official English translation, which is more reflective of what was written in French, is currently being written.
La Presse columnist Alain Dubuc
writes that "Although Hérouxville's reaction was xenophobic, immigrants may not be the main target of this revolt ... There is something else at work here, and it's the revolt against the big city, its ideas, its lifestyle, its influence. What happened in Hérouxville is the ultimate expression of the fracture between the metropolis and the regions ... Hérouxville was angered by the tolerance of Montrealers, by their passivity towards the changes brought out by immigration, by their multi-ethnic culture, their rejection of religion, their 'gay village' and their arrogant elites. For small towns such as Hérouxville, the real threat to their identity has little to do with veil-clad Muslim women, it is the urban world that is gradually drifting away from the traditional model."
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 556 (total dwellings: 620)
Mother tongue:
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
(Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
), located in the Regional county municipality
Regional county municipality
The term regional county municipality or RCM is used in Quebec to designate one of 86 county-like political and geographic units. In most cases, they are also census divisions. Regional County Municipalities are a supralocal type of "Regional Municipality" and are still commonly referred to as...
(RCM) of Mékinac
Mékinac Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Mékinac is a Regional County Municipality in central Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Saint-Tite.-Communities:City*Saint-TiteMunicipalities*Notre-Dame-de-Montauban*Sainte-Thècle*Trois-RivesVillage Municipality*Grandes-Piles...
, and in the administrative region of Mauricie
Mauricie
Mauricie is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,855.22 km² and a 2006 census population of 258,928 residents...
. It was founded in 1897. A small rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
farming town, its main economic activity is agriculture.
Hérouxville is directly on the route to Saint-Tite
Saint-Tite, Quebec
Saint-Tite is a town in Quebec province, Canada, north of Trois-Rivières; its name is the French name for Saint Titus. Its chief industries are forestry and leather production. It is best known, though, for the Festival Western de Saint-Tite, which developed from a rodeo inaugurated in 1967 to...
and the Festival western de Saint-Tite
Festival Western de Saint-Tite
The Festival western de Saint-Tite is an annual event held in September, in Saint-Tite, Quebec.It developed from a rodeo inaugurated in 1967 to promote the leather industry.It hosts a major rodeo competition, along with other cultural events....
, in addition to being the northeast gateway to Mauricie, a region renowned for its lush forests and quaint villages. It is located within the Laurentian Forest region, which has many lakes and rivers. The town centre of is in the style of the seigneurial
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
period.
Reasonable accommodation
Hérouxville received international attention in January 2007 when its town council passed controversial measures concerning practices which the residents deemed unsuitable for life in Herouxville for potential new immigrants, despite the fact that the town has no immigrant population. Herouxville has a small population of 1,338 residents who are entirely WhiteWhite people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
, francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
, and nominally Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
.
Other rural communities in the region of Mékinac
Mékinac Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Mékinac is a Regional County Municipality in central Quebec, Canada. Its seat is Saint-Tite.-Communities:City*Saint-TiteMunicipalities*Notre-Dame-de-Montauban*Sainte-Thècle*Trois-RivesVillage Municipality*Grandes-Piles...
are also considering similar codes, despite featuring few or no immigrants at all.
The mayor and the municipal council approved a code of behavior for immigrants
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, which occurred in the context of a debate on "reasonable accommodation
Reasonable accommodation
A reasonable accommodation is an adjustment made in a system to "accommodate" or make fair the same system for an individual based on a proven need. Accommodations can be religious, academic, or employment related and are often mandated by law. Each country has its own system of reasonable...
" for other cultures in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The code forbade carrying a weapon to school (even if symbolic), covering one's face, and indicated that accommodation of prayer in school will not be permitted. It also stated that stoning
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
women or burning them alive is prohibited, as is female genital cutting
Female genital cutting
Female genital mutilation , also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is defined by the World Health Organization as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."FGM...
. It attests that "Our people eat to nourish the body, not the soul", and that health-care professionals "do not have to ask permission to perform blood transfusions."
The code was widely criticized as being premised on racist and insulting cultural stereotypes.
The Montreal Gazette noted that "while the values espoused might be universal, the code has sparked an international controversy because the intention appears to be to scare off newcomers with a code that presumes the worst of them."
Quebec Premier
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....
Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
called Herouxville's measures "exaggerated" after Town Councillor André Drouin appeared on a popular Quebec television show called Tout le monde en parle
Tout le monde en parle (Quebec)
Tout le monde en parle is a Quebec talk show hosted and co-produced by Guy A. Lepage, broadcast on Radio-Canada since 2004. It has been adapted from the French show of the same name, created and hosted by Thierry Ardisson.- Concept :...
and said the reasonable accommodation situation had reached a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
in Quebec. The town later revised the standards after a delegation of Muslim women from the Canadian Islamic Congress came to meet townspeople.
The original version of this document was published in French. The translation into English was done by an unknown party and is not identical to the original. An official English translation, which is more reflective of what was written in French, is currently being written.
La Presse columnist Alain Dubuc
Alain Dubuc
Alain Dubuc is a journalist and an economist from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is a columnist for Montreal's La Presse, Quebec City's Le Soleil and five other dailies in Quebec. He is a notable advocate of center-right fiscal politics and the Quebec federalist ideology.- Biography :Alain Dubuc is...
writes that "Although Hérouxville's reaction was xenophobic, immigrants may not be the main target of this revolt ... There is something else at work here, and it's the revolt against the big city, its ideas, its lifestyle, its influence. What happened in Hérouxville is the ultimate expression of the fracture between the metropolis and the regions ... Hérouxville was angered by the tolerance of Montrealers, by their passivity towards the changes brought out by immigration, by their multi-ethnic culture, their rejection of religion, their 'gay village' and their arrogant elites. For small towns such as Hérouxville, the real threat to their identity has little to do with veil-clad Muslim women, it is the urban world that is gradually drifting away from the traditional model."
Demographics
Population trend:- Population in 2006: 1235 (2001 to 2006 population change: -3.1 %)
- Population in 2001: 1275
- Population in 1996: 1314
- Population in 1991: 1253
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 556 (total dwellings: 620)
Mother tongue:
- English as first language: 1.2 %
- French as first language: 98.8 %
- English and French as first language: 0 %
- Other as first language: 0 %