Doubts cast on news report that Montreal mosque asked for women to be kept away from construction site

Quebec's construction commission (CCQ) is looking into questionable allegations that a Montreal mosque asked that female workers be excluded from a nearby construction site on Fridays, the Muslim day of prayer.

According to a report by TVA Nouvelles published Tuesday, the directors of two mosques on de Courtrai Avenue in Cte-des-Neiges asked G-Tek, an electrical contractor carrying out worknear the mosque, that women not be visible at the site on Fridays.

• ANALYSIS: Why do we keep forgetting Bouchard-Taylor report's lessons?

The original news reportsaid a clause in the contract for the electrical workbacked up that claim.

However, theTVA story has since been changed to say the clause in the contract had to do with accommodating the mosque to keep noise away on Fridays, not women.The revised news report doesn't acknowledge that the story was amended or why.

A subsequent story says the TVA reporter was provided contradictory information by a G-Tekemployee.

The board of directors of the Ahl-IllBait Mosquerefutesthe news report in its entirety, adamant thatno request to bar women from the site on Fridays was ever made. The board has hired a lawyer.

The mosque'sversion of events is backed up by the Commission des services lectriques de Montral(CSEM), the paramunicipal agency that hired G-Tekto carry out the electrical work.

Union officials representing workers on the site believe the request may have come from a neighbour, and not the mosque itself.

TVA responds

CBCNews posed TVAa series of questions about the story, including why an interview with a member of the mosque's board of directors was not included in the initial broadcast,why the story was subsequently changed and whether the media outletstandsby its reporting.

"Did you read the report yesterday on this subject?" askedVronique Mercier, vice-president ofcommunications for Qubecor Mdia andGroupe TVA,in an email.

"The story is founded. There is a verbal agreement that exists. Several sources, including employees, confirmed it."

Thisconstituted the entiretyof TVA's response.

• Quebec premier condemns 'baseless' media report that women were barred from work site near mosque

'Stay calm,' says labour minister

Quebec Labour Minister Dominique Vien asked the CCQ to look into the claim, calling the idea of excluding women from a construction site "unacceptable."

At theNational Assembly Wednesday,Viensaid she was "troubled" by the allegations when she heard about them, adding that equality between men and women is a fundamental right.

"I'm calling on people to calm down; stay calm, we'll look into the facts."

TheCCQis not carrying out an investigation, according toCCQPresident DianeLemieux, but is verifying the information that'scirculating. It's expected to release its findings in the coming days.

Any clause that mandates the exclusion of women from a construction site would contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Quebec's Act respecting labour standards, Lemieux told Radio-Canada.

What mayhave happened

G-Tek was hired to bury power lines underground, and some of that work is taking place on the mosque's property, explainedthe president of CSEM, Serge Boileau.

Boileau said that there was never a clause in the contract stating women weren't allowed to work at the site on Fridays. Rather, CSEMreached an agreement with the mosque that work not be done on mosque property Fridays, to limit the noise on the Muslim day of prayer. That agreement is in the contract.

Boileau said he checked with managers at G-Tek, who told him they hadn't received a request from the mosque that women be kept away Fridays, either.

However, Stphane Fortin, the president of G-Tek, told Radio-Canada a foreman at the construction site was approached by someone who said he wasfrom the mosque who asked that women not be allowed to work there on Fridays a request that the foreman complied with on his own.

G-Tekhas not responded to a CBC News request for comment.

A slightly different version emerged late Wednesday. The union that represents some of the workers on the site dispatched an official to speak with its members earlier in the day.

The workers told their representative that the request to remove women from the site during prayer time on Fridays came from a neighbour, not the mosque, saidLyne Laperrire, who heads the construction division of Centrale des syndicats dmocratiques(CSD).

Laperrire said it appears the request was made to the contractor, who accommodated the request.

"At no time did workers lose salary. The contractor took it upon himself to move them elsewhere for the duration ofprayers,"Laperriresaid. "Why he listened to a demand from a neighbour, why don't have that answer."

Hate incited, mosque director says

Moayed Altalibi, a director of the board ofAhl-Ill Bait Mosque, one of the two mosques referenced in the original newsreport, said he doesn't know where the story comes from, andhe was shocked when he heard it.

"Since yesterday, we are receiving a lot of angry emails and messages. People are fuming. [The report] incited hate and derision in the community," Altalibi said.

How can, in this world, here in Montreal, somebody prevent a woman from working?-Ahl-IllBait Mosque directorMoayedAltalibi

The mosque's board has passed onsome of the messages it'sreceived to police, Altalibisaid.Montreal police were not immediately able to confirm whether a complainthad been filed.

Altalibi said there is another mosque near Ahl-Ill Bait, but the two mosquesdo not share a board of directors, nor is electrical work being done outside the other mosque.

He also said he felt as ifthe TVA reporter wasn't interested in hearing themosque's side of the story.

"When the report was broadcast again the second time, I went myself, even though it was a snowstorm and I live a little bit far from the centre," he said.

"I made a lengthy interview with the same reporter. She did not report any part of it."

The borough mayor of Cte-des-NeigesNotre-Dame-de-Grce,former Montreal Gazette journalistSue Montgomery, says TVA should apologize and retract its story.

• Montreal mosque members dispute claim they wanted women barred from construction site on Fridays