TORONTO, November 9, 2015 (LifeSiteNews) – The Christian organization that the City of Toronto banned from holding a musical festival in a downtown public square joined LifeSiteNews on Monday in delivering a 30,000-name petition to Mayor John Tory’s office.
In addition they delivered a petition of around 10,000 signatures by TheRebel.media. Both called on the city to reverse its decision.
If by Tuesday the city has not revoked its ruling, the group, Voices of the Nations (VON), will make good its promise to sue the city and the board for violating its Charter rights of freedom of religion and expression.
The conflict began when official Natalie Belman, manager of events for Yonge-Dundas Square, refused to grant VON a permit to use the square for its annual music festival, because she deemed the singing during the multi-denominational event was “proselytizing” and therefore against city policy.
“If you’re praising Jesus, ‘praise the Lord,’ and ‘there’s no God like Jehovah,’ that type of thing, that’s proselytizing,” she told Leye Oyelami, VON’s event coordinator, at the time. “That is a big problem. … That [kind of thing], from the stage, is not acceptable.”
“I felt kind of betrayed” by Belman’s decision, VON president Peter Ruparelia told LifeSiteNews.
He pointed out that VON has held its summer music festival in the spacious square in the heart of Toronto’s teeming downtown core for five years. “And then all of a sudden they’re saying we’re proselytizing because we spoke the name of Jehovah and Jesus.”
A LifeSiteNews petition launched October 29 on VON’s behalf has been signed by 30,453 to date.
Ruparelia and three VON members, as well as LifeSiteNews managing director Steve Jalsevac and Rebel commentator Eitan Gilboord delivered the petitions Monday to the mayor’s director of communications, Amanda Galbraith.
