{"id":40522,"date":"2015-02-01T14:15:28","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T06:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=40522"},"modified":"2015-02-01T12:23:16","modified_gmt":"2015-02-01T04:23:16","slug":"montreal-blocks-imam-hamza-chaouis-project-to-open-islamic-community-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/02\/01\/montreal-blocks-imam-hamza-chaouis-project-to-open-islamic-community-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal blocks imam Hamza Chaoui\u2019s project to open Islamic community centre"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.\"<\/a>
Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL\u2014The Islamic community centre that controversial imam Hamza Chaoui had hoped to open in east Montreal will not see the light of day, local officials said.<\/p>\n

Real Menard, mayor of the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, told a news conference Saturday he would not grant Chaoui an operating licence to open a centre in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

Chaoui, a Moroccan-born imam who has made statements deemed homophobic and sexist, had not yet applied for such a permit.<\/p>\n

He has described Islam and democracy as \u201ccompletely\u201d incompatible.<\/p>\n

Menard said he based the pre-emptive decision on security considerations, but added that places of worship were not permitted in the area the youth centre was planned to be established.<\/p>\n

He added the borough council would meet to redefine what constitutes a community and cultural centre, and religious instruction would be excluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe measure would freeze any demand for a certificate of occupation for a community centre,\u201d Menard said.<\/p>\n

Reached over the phone by The Canadian Press on Saturday afternoon, Chaoui said he was too busy to comment on the situation.<\/p>\n

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre backed Menard\u2019s decision, saying it was an issue of public order and safety, and not freedom of expression.<\/p>\n

Coderre described Chaoui as an \u201cagent of radicalization and instigator of social tension.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could provoke things. Lone wolves can exist and that\u2019s the fruit of radicalization,\u201d Coderre said.<\/p>\n

The mayor added he could have intervened to block Chaoui\u2019s project under city laws by arguing that it would cause \u201cdisturbances to the public order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coderre said the city was ready to tackle any legal challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel solid if ever there are legal proceedings. Our role is to govern and to make sure to have a balance between openness and vigilance,\u201d Coderre said, adding he did not want to stigmatize Montreal\u2019s Muslim community.<\/p>\n

The case had nothing to do with religion, he said.<\/p>\n

Coderre, who was a federal minister at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, urged members of Parliament to adopt new anti-terrorism legislation, tabled by the federal government Friday, as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Bill C-51 puts forth several measures to thwart terrorist acts, including granting Canada\u2019s spy agency stronger anti-terror powers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL\u2014The Islamic community centre that controversial imam Hamza Chaoui had hoped to open in east Montreal will not see the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":40523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1145],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-headline","mauthors-alain-martineau","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}