Ayaan Hirsi Ali travels with bodyguards because of her beliefs.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali had a warning to Montrealers hoping to avoid problems with devout Muslims assimilating into secular society.

"Go visit Europe," said Ali, who has been an outspoken critic of Islamic fundamentalism in the Netherlands, where she was a member of parliament, and the United States, where she now lives.

Ali was in Montreal last night as part of the 357c Speakers Series. Those who attended the speech paid $795 each plus tax to hear four speakers discuss the future of Europe. (The host, Club 357c, is a private club in Old Montreal founded by software guru Daniel Langlois.)

Ali, the third speaker in the series, said last night Europe is on the verge of being overrun by fundamentalist Islamists who don't accept the basic human rights most Europeans enjoy. She said Canada should take that example as a warning.

"They say a brain tumour starts with a headache, so maybe you have a headache right now, but in Europe, where there are many more Muslims, in countries such as the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands, it has become a lump."

Born a Muslim in Somalia, Ali fled to Holland in 1992 to avoid a marriage arranged by her father. She renounced her religion and has written two best-selling books: Infidel and The Caged Virgin. She lives under constant threat for her outspoken beliefs and travels with armed guards wherever she goes.

She is currently a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C.

Ali contends Islamic values clash with those of Western democracies. She said one problem is that women in Islamic societies are not granted the basic freedoms men enjoy.

"You paint a very bleak picture," one audience member said in the question period after Ali's speech.

"I don't paint a bleak picture,"Ali responded. "The picture is bleak. I am merely commenting on it. The world woke up to this bleak picture on Sept. 11, 2001. Now, nearly eight years later, the radicals and their power base are getting stronger."

Ali said Canadians should insist on spelling out the values of democratic freedoms to Muslims immigrating here, and threaten to deport them if they don't adhere to them.

A values pledge has been proposed by Quebec Premier Jean Charest in light of the Bouchard-Taylor commission on reasonable accommodation of minorities.

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