Dollard denies tax-exempt status to Muslim charity

Dollard des Ormeaux council unanimously rejected tax-exempt status for a residential home owned by an Ontario-based charity called the Muslim Welfare Centre of Toronto at its council meeting earlier tonight.

“If someone doesn’t have to pay the residential tax, the neighbours will have to,” Mayor Ed Janiszewski later told reporters as an explanation. “We don’t want volunteers, or religious groups, to come to Dollard and then tax everyone else.”

The group has been a registered charity organization with the Canadian government since 1994, according to public federal records. Its C.E.O. Quiser Naqvi said its property in Toronto is exempt from paying residential taxes. “We are a universal organization,” said Naqvi when reached for comment by telephone last week once the city’s council agenda revealed it would reject the tax exemption. Naqvi added the services offered by the centre, whether womens’ shelters, meals on wheels programs for the homeless, or seniors’ clubs, are used by everybody.

“Just because there is the word ‘Muslim’ in the name doesn’t mean it’s just for Muslims,” agreed the organization’s local representative Kalim Khan. He pleaded his case in front of council during question period tonight. “When I go (to the centre in Toronto), I see Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Christians,” he said.

The group aims to turn the residential home on Sunshine Drive, formerly owned by Khan, into a seniors' club.

However, despite claims by Dollard town hall, Khan insisted there would be no traffic problems created by this. “There will be no more than four or five people there at a time,” he said, adding the seniors’ gatherings in question would only take place once or twice a year.

Khan said he has already been conducting these activities on his own for the last 10 years, and has never had a problem before.

He added he intends to help needy people purchase food at grocery stores as well, but would not keep their food at the home.

“I will go check up on them first,” he explained, in order to ensure they really do need help. Then he would send them to the grocery store, and reimburse them for their purchases upon their producing a receipt.

Khan estimated a property and school tax exemption would net him about $3,000 a year, all of which he promised would go to the welfare centre.

Though he used to own the home, he said, he donated it to the centre in December as he is moving on in age and is driven by a strong religious belief to do good during his life.

With Dollard’s decision rendered today, the case now moves on to the Commission municipale du Québec, a provincial government-appointed independent commission that vets or rejects municipal decisions in the province.

Since Sunshine Drive is a residential street, Janiszewski said, neighbours would be bothered by the traffic and noise generated by the seniors’ club.

He conceded the project would get little chance of approval by council even if the demand for tax exemption was removed. “It’s not an assembly building, it’s a residential building,” he said. “They would have to move to an assembly building.”

A long residential street that runs north from Hyman towards Spring Garden, Sunshine Drive also holds Sunshine Academy, an elementary school, as well as a group home for the physically disabled run by the Cheshire Foundation of Quebec. The latter is also a registered charity organization with the Canadian government.

“They asked for tax exemption by the commission,” recalled Janiszewski. “But it was refused,” he said.

Since, unlike the projected seniors' club, the home is a permanent residence, Janiszewski said council had not had problems approving its establishment. “It’s like a family with three kids,” he explained.

Naqvi was surprised to find his organization’s demand rejected. “We know this is Quebec, so the laws are different,” he acknowledged.

However, according to Marie-Claude Prémont, a law professor at the École Nationale de l’Administration Publique, a provincial public administration university, that makes little difference. “I don’t think it’s different in Ontario or Quebec,” she said.

She added municipalities are under no obligation to offer tax-exempt status to all registered charities. “Otherwise, every little club would be able to open up anywhere,” she said.

Residents of Sunshine Drive interviewed at random offered mixed opinions of the idea.

“I can’t see it as being a problem” said O’ Carroll Seales. “I personally feel that people are getting older and they need the companionship.”

A few doors down, however, Bonnie Mitchell seemed surprised council would even entertain the notion of a seniors' club. “I would be against them opening it,” she said, stating the street has enough traffic as it is.

However, Susan Connor said she could not see a problem if the club remained as quiet as Khan claims it would. “He has been a good neighbour for 15 years,” she said of him.

Kursti Puvel, another resident, seemed to side with the mayor. “I would be against it,” she said. “It’s a residential area.”

Janiszewski said it is also difficult to judge how helpful the services offered would be to his city. “It’s a Toronto group, I don’t know if it could bring advantages to Dollard des Ormeaux.”

The 2001 Statistiques Canada census, which was the last one to register religious groups, pegged the number of Muslims in Dollard as 2, 615.