Worshippers at a Côte-des-Neiges mosque say that they feel vulnerable and at risk after a TVA News report claimed that they asked that women be barred from a construction site on Fridays – a claim that has since been called into question by the mosque and construction crew involved. The report made mention of the Ahl-Ill Bait Mosque's street address, and a worshipper named Samir – he asked for his last name to not be used – told The Natasha Hall Show on CJAD 800 that people have since posted threatening messages on the mosque's result on Google Maps.
"I never expected this to happen," said Samir, whose parents also attend prayer services at the mosque. "Who would care about, like, who is doing the work? There's construction everywhere...who cares who is doing the work – if it's a man or a woman," he said.
Samir and his wife Wafaa said they initially thought that the report was a mistake, and that it had been a neighbour or nearby organization that had instead made the highly unusual and controversial request to the G-Tek electrical contractors. His instincts may have proven to be correct -- the union representing the workers at the construction site say they understand the request was made by a nearby resident, not the mosque.
When no formal retraction was ever issued by TVA, and the report began to garner widespread attention, including from the provincial government, the couple and their children began to feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They added that – partially at their children's urging – they have not been back to the mosque since. "We're asking questions now – do we go, do we not go, is it safe?"
"We feel at risk at the moment, [with] my children asking questions all the time." Wafaa said. "The threats are all over social media: 'it has to be burned down' or 'they have to be killed'...we don't know what we should do, or what's going to happen next."
The couple added that the mosque is an open, welcoming community. Wafaa said that when Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough mayor Sue Montgomery visited the mosque this year she was not asked to don a veil.
The report from earlier this week has been questioned by both Quebec's construction commission (CCQ) and the Commission des services électriques de Montréal. TVA has since amended its original report to say that a clause in an electrical crew's contract had to do with limiting noise, not keeping women away from the work site, though the story does not acknowledge that the original story was amended, or explain why.
The CCQ has not opened a formal investigation into the matter but will release findings in the next few days.