It worked for OJ

It's a theme you see emerging almost daily in the media... "When in doubt... whip racism out."

-- Westport, Ont. -- To hear the anglers tell it, they have been attacked, thrown off a bridge into the water, and threatened with baseball bats and axes by angry residents.

The unCanadian behaviour, these Asian Canadian anglers say, is just because of the way they look.

But residents of this idyllic hamlet on the shore of Big Rideau Lake, 45 minutes north of Kingston, tell a different story. Yes, there is palpable anger in town toward the "Asian" anglers, but it has nothing to do with race.

So, if this isn't the resurgence of a variant of the KKK... what's going on?

Residents claim some of the many GTA anglers of Asian descent, who make repeated late-night pilgrimages to harvest crappies and rock bass, have also been caught poaching prized bass and walleye from local sanctuaries.

"This has nothing to do with racism, and everything to do with protecting the fish," says Charlie Jones, a member of a fish conservation group. "These people have been caught time and time again over the last five years either over-fishing or taking fish from the sanctuary."

Rumours of aerated tank trucks trolling the countryside have added fuel to the speculation that many of these fishing trips are supplying Toronto's Chinatown restaurants.

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RELATED: Speaking of immigrants and race

France's Senate has approved a controversial law allowing voluntary DNA tests for would-be immigrants seeking to join family in France.

Supporters of the move - part of a tough immigration bill passed by the lower house - say it will speed up the process for genuine applicants.

They argue that 12 other European countries have similar rules.

Critics have attacked the law as racist and question the use of genetics as a basis for citizenship.

There, of course, has to be a component of bending over backwards to ward off the expected storm of politically correct protest.

The tests will now be paid for by the French government, to prevent any possible discrimination against those who cannot afford the tests.

In addition, they will now only examine maternal DNA, to prevent paternity disputes arising from the tests.

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