Toronto's mosques receive public call to prayer noise bylaw exemption until Ramadan

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During this dark time of the Wuhan virus, have you noticed a consistent narrative that has emerged on the religious front?

Namely, members of one particular faith are being targeted by law enforcement to pay big fines for allegedly breaching COVID-19 safety protocols; meanwhile several municipalities are temporarily waving bylaws so as to accommodate another particular faith.

Can you possibly guess which religion is enduring the religious smackdown and which one is being lovingly accommodated? I bet you can.

Christian churches, street preachers fined

Indeed, since we started airing our Fight the Fines stories, we have presented such tales as those two Calgary street preachers being fined by Calgary Police for the egregious act of... feeding the homeless.

And then we had a preacher fined $880 in Cornwall, Ontario, for having a Passover diner that involved five adults and two children.

And then there's the Church of God in Aylmer, Ont., that has been threatened with big fines if Sunday services aren't cancelled — even though those services take place upon the church parking lot in which the parishioners remain in their vehicles with the windows rolled up.

Bottom line, Christianity is under attack.

The same cannot be said about Islam.

Noise bylaws exempted for mosques during Ramadan

Numerous cities including Toronto and Mississauga have recently made exemptions to their noise bylaws for mosques.

Translation: come sunset from now until May 23 (the period of Ramadan) mosques can now blare their calls to prayer for all to hear.

But it doesn't make sense: a call to prayer is exactly that: informing Muslims that prayers are about to take place at the mosque. But the mosques — similar to all religious institutions — remain closed due to those COVID-19 safety protocols.

Meaning that there's really nowhere to go once the call to prayer is broadcast, even though municipalities in Canada have bylaws prohibiting the playing of amplified sound.

Still, City of Toronto spokeswoman Tammy Robbinson told CBC News that the bylaw is being ignored for the next three weeks, citing:

“Spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being is important during these difficult times.”

Sounds to us like some are exploiting the global pandemic to further their agenda, that they are beholden to a different set of rules.

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  • By Ezra Levant

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