When in Rome

by BRIAN LOCKHART

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

That's an old saying with some common sense. It means when visiting another place, abide by the laws and customs of the land. 

You shouldn't have to be told this. You should have already figured this out before you arrived.                                                                                                                                             There are some cities and towns in Europe that are now putting out information, and in some cases, putting up signs that say “tourists not welcome.”

These towns, which may be historically important or have a certain charm or nice beaches, and are a destination for tourists, are also home to the people who actually live there.

Many tourist towns rely on the influx of visitors to fuel the local economy.

These towns, however, are fed up with tourists who flout local convention. This includes bad behaviour by drunks who act in an inappropriate way, cause trouble, throw garbage around, and just the disrupt the town.

For some reason, some people think that just because they are on vacation, it's acceptable to get in a bar fight and make noise at all hours of the night.

Some travellers have found themselves in trouble in Asian countries after drawing graffiti on local historic buildings, or behaving in a disrespectful manner in a holy shrine.

It's just common sense that carving your initials into the side of a historic building, or posing for selfies while inappropriately dressed in a place considered sacred or holy by locals, won't win you any friends.

In some cases, this behaviour has resulted in criminal charges.

It's bad enough that tourists can't control themselves while on vacation, but it's worse when foreigners arrive on Canadian soil and cause trouble – violent trouble.

Police in Edmonton have arrested three alleged “hitmen” in relation to a murder in British Columbia. More arrests are expected.

All three are Indian nationals and non-residents, and have been here for three to five years.

Some arrived on student visas, but never set foot in a school. None have permanent residency.              Yet, here there are, shooting up the streets – in our country.

It is believed the shooting, and a few others, have ties to the Indian government.

The victim was a local prominent Sikh separatist, and apparently not liked by the Indian government.

Why was he on Canadian soil and promoting a foreign agenda here? If you want to start political turmoil, do it on your own turf.

This incident is tied in to other criminal behaviour both in the West and Ontario.

It doesn't take a genius, and these three men that were arrested obviously don't fit into that category, to know that you don't go to another country and cause trouble.

The truth is, no one here would care if Indian nationals are shooting each other – in India. However, when you land on Canadian soil, you're expected to obey the laws – and that includes not killing people and shooting up the streets.

These criminals have a tendency to murder other criminals, however that doesn't mean an innocent person walking down the street won't be a victim of a stray bullet once these idiots start pulling the trigger.

There are other concerns about criminal activity both out West and in Ontario, where Asian business people are being intimidated and threatened with violence in an effort to extort money. 

The orders are given from a group in India, and carried out by thugs who live here.

How would you like to be home one evening, hear gun fire and have bullets flying through your home, because this group of criminals are trying to convince your neighbour to pay up? 

The government needs to do a better job of vetting people who arrive on our shores.

The three people arrested did not go to school, as claimed during their arrival, and apparently did not have any kind of legitimate job to support themselves. Why were they even here other than to take part in criminal activity?

Canada is an open, welcoming, and tolerant society.

However, there needs to be a clear message sent – when you come to our house, you play by our rules.