Excerpt:
The cleric of a Muslim community group behind a proposed condo and townhouse complex in a predominantly Jewish area was one of the key figures in an Islamic school that used teaching materials that disparaged Jews and encouraged boys to keep fit for jihad.
Imam Syed Mohammed Rizvi and the East End Madrassah were the targets of a hate-crimes investigation in 2012, and although charges were not laid, a York Region police report said a review of 30 school syllabus books found portions that "challenged some of Canada's core values" and "suggested intolerance," even if they were not criminal.
Mr. Rizvi and the Islamic Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat (ISIJ) have applied to the City of Vaughn to redesignate and rezone their property at 9000 Bathurst St. in Thornhill, north of Toronto, in order to build two 17- storey apartment buildings and more than 60 three-storey townhouse units. The group wants to build the 28-acre development around the Jaffari Community Centre mosque, which is on land they have owned for about 20 years.