Regina police chief says law will guide decision on future permits for amplified call to prayer

Regina’s police chief said the law will ultimately decide whether any future permits will be issued to a downtown mosque to conduct an amplified call to prayer.

On Friday, Regina City Jamia Masjid invited members of the public to weigh in and discuss the outdoor call to prayer broadcast, which the mosque conducted on a trial basis June 19 with a permit from Regina Police Service.

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It also handed out survey forms. The results of that survey are now in the hands of RPS.

“We just received those survey results late yesterday,” Chief Lorilee Davies said Tuesday morning. “(We) haven’t really had a chance to dig into them yet, but we are evaluating all the information that’s available to us in reviewing the application, and so we want to make sure that we do our due diligence in ensuring that we we have some good decision making on that.”

While Davies says the service will use all of the available information to make a decision, the process is ultimately determined by the bylaw.

“We can rely on the legislation that’s existing in place right now, and so there isn’t any opportunity in that bylaw that says public opinion has a check mark there,” she said.

“It’s good information for us to look at, but I think at the end of the day, we can only act on the legislation as it currently exists.”

That sentiment was echoed by Mayor Chad Bachynski, who chairs the Board of Police Commissioners.

“Any information, whether it’s through the survey or otherwise, that would play into the criteria under the bylaw, that would absolutely be for consideration,” he said.

He added when it comes to religious practices, the mayor and council can’t take sides.

“The role of council at the end of the day, and the city, is to be nonpartisan,” he said. “So that is our role. I can’t speak for every individual person and their own personal thoughts, but I can speak for us as our role on council.”

The mosque said Friday it would consider the survey results and feedback, along with information from police, before deciding whether to resume the call to prayer.

While the Board of Police Commissioners held its monthly meeting Tuesday, the call to prayer was not on the agenda and was not discussed.