While mosques across the country could qualify for federal security funding should they ever get damaged, their insurance costs could spike due to the growing threat of hate crimes, as recently witnessed in the Quebec City attack.
Public Safety Canada ministry spokesman Jean-Philippe Levert told
CBC News that the criteria for the federal securities infrastructure program have been relaxed in the wake of the recent shooting incident so that mosques across Canada may qualify for the fund. To qualify, applicants must prove that there had been a hate-related crime in “their immediate area” within the past two years.
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“Given the importance of recent events in Quebec City, other mosques could be considered at risk simply by referring to events in Quebec,” Levert said.
CBC News reported that a number of Toronto mosques and at least one Islamic school have already hired private security following the unfortunate Quebec shootings.
One assistant imam voiced that although the fund could help with the repairs and security revamp of his mosque, the location’s insurance expenses could surge as a result.
“One worshipper came up to me and said, ‘Maybe we should invest in bulletproof windows,’” said Islamic Information & Dawah Centre assistant imam Ilyas Ally. “I was taken aback by that.”
The religious center in question has begun preparing its application for the federal security infrastructure program. According to Ally, the Toronto police has offered to perform a security audit of the premises so that the mosque’s leaders can draft a security plan that is “reasonable and proportionate” to the risk and the benefit.
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With plans to add more security cameras and improved lighting to the center, Ally worries that the additional security could affect insurance costs for the property. To date, he has yet to hear from the mosque’s insurance provider.
“We’ve always been told our insurance is higher because of a possible hate crime,” he explained. “Hopefully, it won’t get higher.”
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