The Ummah Mosk gets provincially-funded gymnasium

Finishing touches on new Halifax Mosque delayed again
Provincially-funded gymnasium will be open to the public when complete
CBC News Posted: May 8, 2012 4:57 PM AT Last Updated: May 8, 2012 6:39 PM AT
The Ummah Mosque should be complete by the fall. (CBC)

The Halifax Ummah Mosque and Community Centre is facing more delays as it tries to finish the final stage of construction.

The building on Chebucto Road is nearly complete except for the basement, which will be the home of a provincially-funded gymnasium.

Worshippers fundraised most of the $6.2 million project, but the province chipped in $700,000 to pay for the gym.

The project is already two years overdue.

The project manager is struggling to find a bricklayer to finish the gym. (CBC)

The project manager is struggling to find a bricklayer to finish the gym. (CBC)

“Most of it is already wired and ready to go,” said Project manager Peter Scott. His biggest hurdle right now is finding a bricklayer to complete the stage. He said he’s desperate to find a contractor to finish the project.

“I think at the moment it’s just the time of year everybody’s busy on housing, all are committed to contracts,” he said.

(…)
The latest deadline for completion was this month, but Scott estimates it will take up to six weeks to finish the work once he finds a contractor.

Scott says he expects the building to have its official opening in the fall.

Tory MPP Rob Milligan said Wednesday that the East End Madrassah (EEM) should lose its permit to rent from the Toronto District School Board until a York Regional police investigation into a lesson allegedly containing hate language is wrapped up.

Yank Islamic school’s permit: Tory MPP
By Terry Davidson, QMI Agency

Tory MPP Rob Milligan

Jewish group says Islamic school needs to do more
Islamic school probed for teachings about Jews

TORONTO – An Islamic school that has been renting space at a Toronto public school to allegedly teach its students to hate Jews should have its permit revoked until a police investigation is finished, says Ontario’s PC education critic.

Tory MPP Rob Milligan said Wednesday that the East End Madrassah (EEM) should lose its permit to rent from the Toronto District School Board until a York Regional police investigation into a lesson allegedly containing hate language is wrapped up.

The Islamic school rents teaching space on Sundays at David and Mary Thompson collegiate in the city’s east end.

Islamic school apologizes for anti-Semitic material on website
CBC News Posted: May 8, 2012 1:23 PM ET Last Updated: May 8, 2012 4:51 PM ET
A Toronto Islamic school that is under police investigation after anti-Semitic teachings were found on its website is apologizing “unreservedly” for its curriculum material, which is now being reviewed.

The Toronto District School Board is also reviewing a complaint that the East End Madrassah was teaching children that “treacherous” Jews “conspired to kill” the Islamic prophet Mohammed. It also contrasted Islam with “the Jews and the Nazis.”

The complaint came from the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which found the material on the school’s website.

The East End Madrassah, a Sunday school run that rents space in a Scarborough school, is run by a Thornhill, Ont., mosque. It has since taken the material off the website, but copies are still available online.

Vaisakhi was also celebrated around the Metro Vancouver area by various organizations and schools. Take for example the Queeensborough Middle School (QMS) in New Westminster.

Saturday, April 28th, 2012 | Posted by admin
Vaisakhi Colours Also Shine Bright In Richmond

By Balwant Sanghera

RICHMOND – Vaisakhi has become one of the most popular celebrations in Canada. Nearly in every major Canadian city, this special occasion is celebrated with a great deal of enthusiasm. In a sense, Vaisakhi has become a mainstream event in this country. The two Nagger Kirtans (Khalsa Day Parades) in Metro Vancouver- held in Vancouver on April 14 and in Surrey on April 22- brought out more than 300,000 people between them. It was great to see people from other communities join the South Asian community in celebrating the birth of the Khalsa (the Pure Ones). Free food and drinks made available to the attendees all along the Nagar Kirtan routes(both in Vancouver and Surrey) was a very generous and superb gesture by very dedicated members of our community. This is something that we can all be proud of.

In addition to these two major celebrations, Vaisakhi was also celebrated around the Metro Vancouver area by various organizations and schools. Take for example the Queeensborough Middle School (QMS) in New Westminster.

Poonam Patel, a community counsellor, has been talking to the teen about her situation. Patel said there are many others like her.

Toronto-area teen shares domestic abuse story
CBC News Posted: May 2, 2012 4:56 PM ET Last Updated: May 2, 2012 6:27 PM ET

A teen in the Greater Toronto Area who has experienced domestic abuse is shining a light on an issue encountered by many new immigrant women, community counsellors say.

The teen, whose identity is not being disclosed by CBC in order to protect her, emigrated from India a few years ago with her family.

The family keeps to themselves, and the teen is literally kept under lock and key.

The girl said that when her parents leave their home, they lock the door and take the keys with them. She has no social life, no privacy and doesn’t get to choose which clothes she can wear to school.
Counsellor Poonam Patel has been talking to the unidentified teen about her situation. (CBC)

She has been beaten by her father, and is fearful when he drinks.

CBC News

Alison Redford rubbing elbows with her constituency

Redford is scheduled to campaign in Calgary all day Sunday.

She will be starting her day off with a photo op for Sri Lankan Sinhalese New Year at the Marlborough Park Community Association Auditorium at 9 a.m.

She will then visit a Sikh Temple with Calgary-Greenway candidate Manmeet Bhullar at 11 a.m. before heading to the Bangladesh Community Association for a photo op at 1 p.m.

Redford then travels to the Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in Calgary’s southeast for a 1:45 p.m. photo op.