As many as 4,000 members of Ahmadiiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) Canada will be on their way to Bradford West Gwillimbury in July.
Pending a final fire safety inspection, the group received its special event permit for the AMJ annual convention taking place at its property on Sideroad 10. The event, running July 15-17, is a private function for invited guests only.
Traffic will be entering the property from Sideroad 10. A total of four paid duty police officers from South Simcoe Police Service will be hired by AMJ to take care of traffic control and ensure safe access.
As part of the permit, an exemption to the town’s noise control bylaw was requested, which drew no objections from town staff.
Coun. Peter Ferragine wanted to ensure guidelines remained in place to make sure no obtrusive noise would be generated by the event, given the complaints he’s received in the past from neighbouring residents during previous events held at AMJ’s property.
Organizers assured councillors the differences in this event - a first of its kind to be held on AMJ’s Bradford West Gwillimbury property - would make those concerns non-starters.
“The past events were different types of events where youth were coming and they would have different events during daytime and during nighttime,” said Aamir Mahmood of AMJ. “This is solely for the greater community purpose, which is during the daytime. If you look at timings, you see that most of the events are starting from 11 a.m. and finishing at 6 p.m…. (with no) dance parties.”
Amplified noise through the PA system will likely be limited to speeches, he added, and ideally partially muffled by the tents being erected on the property to house the convention.
Coun. Raj Sandhu and Deputy Mayor James Leduc both shared their excitement for the event, having attended previous AMJ conventions held throughout Ontario, and vouched for how well they were organized. Coun. Mark Contois added this convention is an example of the kinds of cultural events the town can expect to see more of in the coming years.
Organizers have vowed to source as many materials and goods as possible needed for the convention from businesses located in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
They were, however, coy as to whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be attending, after some questioning from Sandhu, only to say that several prominent politicians from all levels of government have been invited.
