C.F.B. SUFFIELD — The very existence of a structure at the military base is raising alarms among the Muslim community.
What appeared to be a mosque wasn’t being used for worship, but rather for training of soldiers.
While on the base, Mahmoud Mourra’s hunting party came across a structure that shocked him.
It appeared to be a mosque, along with other symbols attached to Muslims.
“I never believed in systemic racism up until this point but this changed my view,” Mourra told CHAT News.
Base officials say the structure, installed in 2006, was used by British troops to help them operate in new environments, and wasn’t used during live fire exercises.
Base commander Lt.-Col. Stephen Burke said,. “(It) would literally be just a full simulated representation of what (soldiers) would see when they deploy overseas.”
For Mourra, the argument doesn’t hold water, and sends the wrong message.
“This is.. an environment where terrorists could be, could live or could hide this is not right,” Mourra said. His son also saw the fake mosque last month. And he’s worried the sight of it could enflame extremist behaviour against Muslims and Canadians alike.
“How many other Muslim kids saw it and never talked about it and it did bother them and they think the Canadian Army is the enemy,” Mourra said.
The base commander understands why concerns have been raised.
“When people are coming from less fortunate countries that have suffered a lot of strife in coming to Canada you would expect .. to leave all that behind and things like this, when taken out of the broader context, can be very disturbing,” Mourra said.
The structure is slated to be pulled down next year.
