Sameh EL-Batroukh is my neighbour and part of the Muslim community of northwest Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. We met Saturday morning for coffee on one of the few days each week that he is not commuting to his job as a P. Eng-accredited project manager in the power generating industry. Our mutual friend, Lauren Weinberg, introduced us last week when I told her I was keen to talk with anyone from the community who had a rational perspective on the rezoning request of 510 Erbsville Road.

Some Muslim folks up here on the west side would like to gather to pray at this property, and they’re hitting some resistance from some vocal elements of the neighbourhood. Happily, many have also stepped forward and expressed their support for the rezoning. See my earlier Medium post on this, calling for respectful discussion and a factual review of the request. …

“It’s nothing to do with the mosque. That’s up to you if you want to connect those things.”

So said this person delivering fliers in my neighbourhood on Monday morning. For 20 years I’ve owned my home and lived in the Laurelwood neighbourhood in the northwest corner of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. My family has seen cornfields turn to housing developments and empty spaces turn to grocery stores, gas stations and banks. For the most part, it has been a peaceful, almost sedate experience. The sense of “neighbourhood” has mostly been focused around the very good schools in our corner of the region. …