‘We want people, when they come to worship, to feel safe’: Theft, vandalism hit West End mosque, church

While theft and vandalism continue to affect businesses and retailers across Winnipeg, two places of worship in the West End say recent break-ins have left their members feeling unsafe.

The Winnipeg Central Mosque and First Mennonite Church of Winnipeg were both broken into last weekend.

Jennifer Rahman, the president of the mosque’s board of directors, said the break-in has dampened the community’s spirits and prompted conversations around how to deter crime. 

“Businesses in the area are suffering because of this.… Many of them have had to already put shutters on their windows because of this type of a break-in, and now we’re going to have to do the same,” Rahman said. 

“It makes the place less welcoming and less appealing, but it’s important for us to maintain security now.”

The front door of the Ellice Avenue mosque was smashed around 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 19 and a small amount of money was stolen from a donation box, Rahman told Information Radio host Marcy Markusa in a Friday interview.

Nothing else was damaged and no one was hurt, but it’s the worst break-in the mosque has seen since it opened its doors 20 years ago, she said.

“We haven’t had such a bad situation in all these years. There have been small instances, but not like this, and I think it speaks to a larger systemic problem in the community that we really have to look at and deal with.”

Rahman said police are still investigating, but so far there are no signs the break-in was targeted or an act of Islamophobia.

She suspects it’s more likely related to socio-economic factors like poverty and food insecurity. 

“There’s only so much our communities by ourselves can fund,” Rahman said. “I would like to see more investment in programs and, you know, centres for youth to do things, productive things and to be able to have mentoring.”

More break-ins since pandemic: minister

David Driedger, the leading minister at the First Mennonite Church on Notre Dame, says there’s been an increase in break-ins since the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

Most recently, all of the office windows of the church were smashed last weekend.

He also doesn’t think his Notre Dame Avenue church was targeted for religious reasons, but he acknowledges the historical harm churches have caused within various communities, including Indigenous people. 

Driedger also recognized the death of an Ethiopian couple who died last month in a fire in the apartment suites above the House of Covenant International Church, on Main Street at Atlantic Avenue, as a “sheer tragedy.”

Police believe the fire was deliberately set. A 28-year-old man has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and arson in connection with the fatal Sept. 14 blaze, which shook the Ethiopian and Eritrean communities who attend the church.

Driedger echoed Rahman’s stance around the need for more funding and resources dedicated to supporting vulnerable people in the city’s West End. 

“We need to understand that other parts of the city are under-serviced, and folks need to be somewhere,” he told Information Radio on Friday.

“We need to collectively as a city embrace … our people as a whole and put the resources where they’re needed most.”

At the same time, “we want people, when they come to worship, to feel safe here,” said Driedger.

Earlier this week, the province announced it is extending funding for its anti-retail-theft initiative, which pays for overtime for police to target areas identified as theft hot spots, including the West End.

The funding extension will also add 12 more officers who will start patrolling next month as part of the initiative, which also includes the Osborne Village and Exchange District areas.

When contacted by CBC about the break-ins, Winnipeg police said they could not comment before publication.

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