Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan
Canadians grumble about the winter and snow, but they agree that theirs is probably the world’s best country —democratic, multicultural, friendly, based on law and prosperous.
But living together with vastly different cultures and outlooks not only enriches you, it also poses challenges and demands give-and-take from all sides for the benefit of everyone.
Ottawa’s Muslims are thrilled that a Muslim school is among the two Ottawa elementary schools listed in the top 100 in the province of Ontario for academic excellence for 2012-2013 by the Fraser Institute. The subjects were reading, writing and math and the testing was conducted through Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office.
Ahlul-Bayt Islamic School of the Ahlul Bayt Center came 76th in the province with its students scoring 9 marks out of ten. Ottawa’s Abraar School of the Muslim Association of Canada ranked 185th, with its students getting 8.4 marks out of ten.
This is remarkable considering that private schools cannot offer their teachers and staff the financial rewards that public schools do. Nor can private schools offer similar physical facilities. Also, while public education is free in Ontario up to high school, private schools charge fees that hurt the pockets of average wage earners.
Most Muslim children embrace public schools. Their parents also feel that mingling with children of different cultures, backgrounds and religions broadens the minds of their children. Yet there is usually a waiting list at private Muslim schools for admission because the schools strive to offer top quality education in all subjects. They also teach Islam and in some cases Arabic. In addition, students in such schools escape the bullying and peer pressure to join in activities that seem to be more common in public schools. There have been cases of high school students committing suicides because of such pressure. For these reasons Christians and Jews also have their own private schools in Ontario. Generally, students from such schools grow up confident and competent and have not much difficulty in colleges and universities.
Canadian Muslims feel particularly vulnerable because some of them are refugees, who fled wars and displacement and whose family structures broke down. Muslim youth in jail number far more than their population numbers warrants.
Parents are also wary of the close mingling of sexes that could lead to serious consequences. Ottawa media reports that the anti-human-trafficking group PACT estimates that the sex-slave industry in the city brings in some $26 million a year. Human trafficking worldwide is estimated at $32 billion annually according to media reports.
In the meantime, the media have reported a controversy over a proposed Muslim complex in Vaughan, Ontario. The Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat has requested permission to build two 17-storey buildings, a retail space and 61 town homes on its 11-hectare property. One high-rise will be for seniors and the condos will be subsidized.
When Vaughan City Hall discussed the proposal hundreds of residents opposed to or favoring the proposal jammed council chambers. More than 3,250 people signed a petition opposing the project.
Tom Koubi, interim head of the Associated to Preserve Thornhill Woods, said the area is clogged with traffic and parked cars and that another 1,400 people and 500 apartments and condos will create chaos.
Nimby (not in my backyard) is a common North American phenomenon. People oppose buildings or activity —overhead wires, bars, shopping malls, low-cost housing, joints that attract teenagers, etc. — that could cause inconvenience or family problems and lower property values. They say religion has nothing to do with their objections. Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat president Shabbir Jeraj calls the project “a long-awaited dream.” Its members, with children away, have difficulty living on their own in old age with failing mental and physical faculties. The association could save the government money by taking in people who could otherwise end up in hospitals or crowded senior homes.
Sandra Yeung Racco, Vaugan city councillor, was quoted as saying that she was concerned that the proposal was igniting religious tensions.
The units would be open to people of all faiths but because of the proximity of the mosque, the expectation is that most housing units would go to Muslims. The jamaat has stated that other facilities such as playing fields and tennis courts would also be available to everybody. The real issue does not seem to be religion but the desire of the residents to avoid congestion and anything that depresses the value of their homes. The matter would probably be solved through a compromise.
How different from Russia! Sochi, since being given the Winter Olympic games in 2007, has built millions of dollars of new structures. But the request by the city’s 20,000 Muslims to build a mosque has been languishing since 1996. Muslims can pray in jam-packed basements — or drive for 2 hours and a half to go 50 miles to the mountain village of Tkhagapsh, where a one-room wood-frame building serves as a mosque. Canadian Muslims, despite some difficulties, are doing much better, thank you.
— Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge.
