CommunityCouncil

Racists not welcome in CBS, says Mayor

By Chris Lewis | Feb. 4, 2021

CBS Mayor Terry French says vandalism inflicted on a mosque being developed in Manuels is not reflective of how the town views Muslims, or any religious group.

Councillor-at-large Kirk Youden raised the issue at Tuesday’s council meeting. He said the youths suspected to be responsible for the damage have been caught, but the owners don’t want to press charges.

Such behaviour by the vandals, he added, is not what Conception Bay South is all about.

“That’s not the community that I know,” Youden said. “That’s an excellent use of that property, and regardless of religion, we certainly welcome them and hope that they make an incredible investment into that property. It’s a beautiful spot. I’m sure they’ll find Conception Bay South a lot more welcoming than their current dilemma.”

Mayor French agreed, adding he wants to see the mosque and its visitors welcomed warmly by the community, as opposed to being victimized by crime.

Although noting he had no reason to believe the vandalism was racially motivated, French said wanted to be clear in his statement against it.

“We welcome the people coming to that mosque as residents, or as visitors,” French said. “They have every right to be here. We’ll welcome them with open arms as we do with people of all religions. Never once have I seen a religious type of racism in our town. And, it certainly won’t be condoned by this council. As a matter of fact, if you’re a racist, we’d sooner you weren’t even in our town.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *