Mayor threatens ban following ‘utterly disgusting’ incident at Stouffville zoning vote for new mosque
By Gene Pereira, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
A contentious special meeting of Stouffville Town Council on Wednesday ended with a narrow 5–2 vote in favour of new zoning which would permit a new mosque, but the proceedings were severely marred by an Islamophobic harassment incident that triggered a sharp rebuke and threat of municipal bans from Mayor Iain Lovatt.
While council ultimately approved a zoning by-law amendment reclassifying a one-hectare parcel at 12662 Tenth Line from development reserve to institutional use, paving the way for the Darul Khair Centre to proceed, the gallery atmosphere turned dark during the deliberations.
Addressing the chamber late in the meeting, Lovatt condemned an ugly confrontation that took place in the overflow room, where a Muslim woman was targeted by a male attendee.
“I do want to address something that I was just informed that happened during the last report deliberations,” Lovatt told the chamber. “There was a woman who was in the overflow room, who was from our Muslim community, who was harassed by a gentleman, and a clear declaration of Islamophobia, and I just want to go on the record and say, that crap is not welcome here in our community. That is not who we are.”
The mayor praised municipal by-law staff for swiftly escorting the individual from the building and issued a stern warning to anyone engaging in bigotry at local municipal facilities.
“If that’s who you are, you get on the first pass out, because you are not welcome in our community, if that’s how you are going to act in our town hall with one of the members of our community,” Lovatt said. “It is completely unacceptable and it will not be tolerated.
“And if I can find out who it was, I’d put a trespass order on them for all of our town facilities. That is just completely unacceptable. And it actually completely degrades the whole process that we just went through. I’m just utterly disgusted.”
The meeting drew immense public interest from across the community, reflecting deep civic engagement over the proposed house of worship. Ahead of the vote, council received numerous letters of support and opposition.
Dozens of residents packed the municipal chambers and overflow spaces, voicing competing viewpoints that ranged from traffic and infrastructure concerns along Tenth Line to appeals for religious inclusivity and community growth.
The approved location at 12662 Tenth Line, situated just north of Forsyth Farm Drive, represents a major expansion from the community’s previously rejected proposal at 27 Winona Dr., offering a property over four times larger.
Plans for the Darul Khair Centre outline a 30,320-square-foot facility designed to serve the growing local Muslim population. The proposed complex features separate men’s and women’s worship spaces, a large assembly hall, educational classrooms, administrative offices, and 168 parking spaces to accommodate congregants.
To address community concerns regarding scale and site integration, Mayor Lovatt introduced an amendment, which council passed unanimously, requiring that the final site plans and architectural drawings return to council for a formal vote rather than being delegated strictly to municipal staff.
With the zoning hurdle cleared, the project moves forward toward site plan approval.
Photo: Plans for the Darul Khair Centre outline a 30,320-square-foot facility designed to serve the growing local Muslim population. (Supplied rendering)