It’s not over until it’s over — Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) Canada’s annual Jalsa Salana conference could be coming back to Bradford after all.
Following a deputation from representatives of AMJ, council chose to reconsider its Sept. 17 decision to deny a permit for the conference in 2025 at 3078 Line 11, and decided to refer the matter back to staff for further review, during the Nov. 5 council meeting.
After the meeting, Asif Khan, national director of public relations for AMJ, said he appreciates council giving them a “fair shot” to respond to the concerns of residents and councillors.
“There’s a sense of relief that we get to try to move forward,” he said. “We are confident we can address everything. Whatever it takes to get it done, we’re committed to getting it done.”
Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano, who had originally voted against approving the event, moved for the reconsideration and helped craft the amendment referring the matter back to staff.
That passed in a 5-3 vote with Giordano’s support joining the four who had previously been in favour — Ward 1 Coun. Cheraldean Duhaney, Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott, Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu and Mayor James Leduc — while Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie was absent.
“I’m going to do it because I think it’s the right thing,” Giordano said.
Despite being “super torn” on the issue, the councillor acknowledged it would be best for staff to assist AMJ in creating a plan for the event in response to all the concerns expressed so far.
That followed comments from Sandhu, who pushed for the amendment because “we owe it to our residents, we owe it to this organization,” as well as new information AMJ provided to councillors, both through private meetings and correspondence, as well as during Tuesday’s council meeting.
“We’ve been waiting for this,” Giordano said. “This was the opportunity I believe many of us wanted.”
That was in reference to council’s ability to discuss several new ideas from AMJ presented by public relatons national director Asif Khan; media relations director Safwan Choudhry; and convention chief executive Mian Rizwan.
Those included:
- hiring a dedicated team of emergency responders to reduce impact on local services
- installing a second temporary cell tower to ensure connectivity
- doubling the number of people helping with traffic management and relying on expertise of AMJ members who are also active members of law enforcement
- increasing shuttle usage by 60 per cent to reduce the number of people driving to the event
- staggering the departure on the final day to limit congestion
- making no site alterations without permits
- prioritizing local businesses for convention needs, giving them more notice for orders and potentially even using requests for proposals (RFPs)
- implementing a unified spending account to better track the economic impact
- uploading videos online explaining event logistics, protocols and schedules
- holding public meetings to review each year’s event and answer community concerns
In addition to the new plan from AMJ, Giordano also asked that further public meetings be held to give residents even more opportunities for feedback and help inform staff’s report.
The timing of those meetings has yet to be determined.
“It’s a blank canvas,” Khan said of AMJ’s willingness to work with the town and create a plan based on any recommendations from staff and council.
However, Khan also acknowledged that collaboration on many of the new ideas could have come sooner.
“The onus is on us,” he said, noting the organization had considered the event a success, and didn’t realize the need for a review. “We didn’t think there was an issue.”
Khan also stressed some information could have been shared with the town sooner, which would have helped clear up misunderstandings.
The mayor admitted their were also some issues with the process through which council addressed the issue.
“We had mistakes on all sides, including my own.” he said.
While he said AMJ’s new plan was “all good ideas,” Ward 5 Coun. Peter Ferragine pointed to the “absolute disaster” of ongoing traffic congestion the town and County of Simcoe are tackling on Sideroad 10 due to the county’s closure of County Road 4 (Yonge Street), as an example of what could happen if something causes a major road to close during the convention.
In response, Khan explained that while the event is expected to see about 25,000 people over three days, only about 12,000 are expected to be on site at any one time, and only 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles are expected to be coming or going from the event on any one day.
“We’re not anywhere equivalent to what’s happening every single day because of what’s happening with Yonge,” he said.
Choudry also addressed concerns over the restoration of the agricultural land after each event, noting that of the 250 acres (101 hectares) AMJ owns in the area, 70 acres (28 hectares) are used for the convention and they plan to continue growing crops, including apple and pear trees in their orchard, as well as potentially introducing livestock and maybe hosting farmers’ markets in future.
“We, as a partner, want to preserve the agricultural integrity of this land,” he said.
The 2025 event was anticipated to draw 18,000 to 25,000 people, similar to the more than 20,000 people who had registered by opening day of AMJ’s first full-scale outdoor conference in Bradford in early July.
The latest decision to reopen the closed door to the event comes after more than a month of debate and outcry from both sides.
Council initially voted against approving the permit for the 2025 conference on Sept. 17 amid resident concerns, and then also voted against referring the matter back to staff during the Oct. 1 meeting, despite roughly 100 people — many being members of the AMJ community — attending the meeting, with about 10 speaking in favour of the event during about 1.5 hours of open forum comments.
Regardless of staff’s findings and recommendations in the newly requested report, council could still vote to deny the application.
That triggered alarm bells for Scott, who said he’s “always been proud that this is an inclusive town,” and respects the “good faith” concerns of residents, but is “fundamentally nervous” that denying AMJ their right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to practise their religious beliefs on their own land could lead to legal trouble for the town.
“I know the options that you have under the law,” he said. “I worry about that.”
Khan said AMJ is aware of the options before them, but don’t want to go that route, and would prefer to work with the town.
