Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) Canada’s first full-scale outdoor Jalsa Salana convention in Bradford was only intended to last for three days, but the ensuing commotion has lasted all year and is expected to carry into 2025.
AMJ officially kicked off the start of the 46th annual Jalsa Salana conference at the Hadiqa Ahmad Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at 3078 Line 11 on Friday July 5, for which more than 20,000 people had registered, with festivities continuing on both Saturday and Sunday.
The conference is usually held indoors at the International Centre in Mississauga, and this was the first year the full-scale event had been held in Bradford following a pilot event in 2022.
“We are very excited about it,” Lal Khan Malik, national president of AMJ said at the time. “It’s a village that is set up, and it’s a lot of work, but it’s much more enjoyable.”
This year, the conference included a main hall for presentations and prayers, a space for verbal and multimedia exhibits, a book store, dining hall, cafe, tea stall, the charity Humanity First, a peace fountain and a bazaar featuring vendors with clothing, jewellery and food.
The event also featured a panel discussion about conflict in the Middle East.
Organizers estimated hundreds of volunteers spent thousands of hours over several weeks preparing the site of about 41 hectares on the northeast corner of Sideroad 10 and Line 11, and erected more than 30 tents of various sizes.
Trouble brewing
Those efforts to transform the agricultural site, the ability for it to be reverted and the impacts on nearby residents would all become part of an ongoing debate, and during the Sept. 17 council meeting, committee of the whole voted against approving AMJ’s application to again host the event from July 4 to 6, 2025.
As part of a recorded vote, only Ward 1 Coun. Cheraldean Duhaney, Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott, Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu and Mayor James Leduc voted in favour of the 2025 event, in contrast to the unanimous support provided in 2023 for the 2024 event.
That came despite a report from Nick Warman, manager of recreation and client services, who recommended council approve the conference in principle, conditional on all requirements being satisfied and permits issued. The report noted many of the planning documents had already been submitted, including the full site, traffic and safety and emergency plans.
However, council’s decision also followed comments during open forum from several residents who voiced concerns about the conference, especially that traffic on Line 11 was backed up “as far as the eye can see,” which was was “incredibly unfair” to nearby residents who were “almost paralyzed,” by the “chaotic” and “insane” amount of traffic.
Residents also argued “the venue is the most inappropriate location for this event,” and proposed future events include a road pass to ensure local residents can come and go as “common sense.”
Some councillors echoed the traffic concerns from both their own experience as well as recollections of calls and emails from residents.
However, both the mayor and deputy mayor said they had spoken with police and were assured the traffic issues were not the result of the convention, but rather several unrelated collisions nearby, including on Highway 400, which detoured traffic onto rural roads.
Other complaints involved the lack of cellular reception available to residents during the event, despite AMJ representatives explaining they had erected an additional tower on the property to help avoid issues, accusations about trenches dug for cables and AMJ’s website at the time already listing the 2025 event in Bradford.
AMJ perseveres
The group wasn’t ready to give up yet, though, and at the next council meeting it was standing room only as about 100 people — many members of the AMJ community — packed council chambers on Oct. 1 and spilled out into the library lobby, eager to show their support for the event’s approval.
Many participated in about 1.5 hours of open forum comments on the issue, and while some residents supported the Sept. 17 decision and echoed concerns raised at that meeting, two residents who claimed to live nearby came out to voice their support for the conference, praising the preparations and organization as well as the ability to bring people to town for more diverse events.
Their voices added to about 10 AMJ members — some of whom are also residents — who stressed the event’s importance to their culture, that the entire community was invited, the Canadian values of peace and respect, as well as the need to work together to find solutions.
That included Mian Rizwan, chief executive of the Jalsa Salana annual convention, who noted this year’s event was only the first of its kind in Bradford, for which he was open to making changes.
“I’m here to seek your guidance,” he said. “You help me. How should I improve it next year?”
Asif Khan, national director of public relations for AMJ, was hoping the matter could be deferred and studied further, as he was “confident” that AMJ could “provide comprehensive solutions.”
The deputy mayor did move to have the matter referred back to staff, but it failed along the same lines as the Sept. 17 vote.
Several councillors brought up allegations, including that roads, sewers and electrical lines had been improperly installed on the property, but both Rizwan and Khan refuted those claims.
While he wouldn’t say which ones, Ward 4 Coun. Joseph Giordano claimed multiple businesses reached out to him to say AMJ had not actually spent money with them. That came in response to a list of how much the group spent at different locations in town, read as part of the previous meeting.
Safwan Choudhry, director of media relations for AMJ, told BradfordToday after the meeting the group is “extremely” well organized and had receipts for expenses which they were considering releasing to the public.
While that hasn’t happened yet, two days after the meeting members of AMJ spoke with BradfordToday in an effort to set the record straight and Choudhry confirmed that all of the businesses named during the Sept. 17 meeting were patronized by the organization.
At the time, Rizwan was only about 70 per cent of the way through a financial audit, so final amounts and receipts could not yet be released, but he claimed to have verified the list of 39 vendors and said the total spent on the convention had already come to more than $1.5 million.
He questioned why councillors would raise issues without providing evidence and then vote against referring the matter back to staff.
“We are hurt,” he said. “Don’t speak based on assumptions or stories.”
Finding common ground
Things again took a turn during the Nov. 5 council meeting.
Following a deputation from representatives of AMJ, council chose to reconsider its Sept. 17 decision and decided to refer the matter back to staff for further review.
Giordano, who had originally voted against approving the event, moved for the reconsideration and helped craft the amendment.
That passed in a 5-3 vote with Giordano’s support joining the four who had previously been in favour (Ward 7 Coun. Peter Dykie was absent).
“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, and requested public meetings to help with the process.
It addition to providing further clarification on some of the previous issues, the presentation from AMJ included several new ideas, such as hiring a dedicated team of emergency responders, installing a second temporary cell tower, and doubling the number of people helping with traffic management.
“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, he also acknowledged that collaboration on many of the new ideas and some information could have been shared with the town sooner, which would have helped clear up misunderstandings.
The mayor admitted there were also some issues with the process through which council addressed the issue.
“We had mistakes on all sides, including my own.” he said.
After the meeting, Khan said he appreciates council giving them a “fair shot” to respond to the concerns of residents and councillors.
While a staff report on the matter isn’t expected until sometime later in 2025, AMJ are set to provide more information and answer questions during a public meeting at 7 p.m. on Jan. 14. in the Zima Room of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library (425 Holland St. W.).
