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Mr. Khalid and his son allege the parking bylaw is discriminatory and violates the Ontario Human Rights Code.

“It’s basically denying the Muslims to park over there. Other times, everybody can park.”

There are examples in other jurisdictions of informal exemptions for parking violations caused by nearby religious services.

According to Kimberly Rossi, parking enforcement unit manager for the Toronto Police Service: “You may find that the officer can give discretion on that because people are generally invited to park in those areas and it’s not causing any hazards or issues,” she said.

Montreal has had a policy of “parking tolerance” on Jewish high holidays for over 30 years, allowing orthodox Jews, who don’t drive on holidays, to avoid tickets.

Mr. Khalid said he would like to see the same form of accommodation given for Muslims in Mississauga.

“It’s very disheartening,” he said. “This is our place of worship.”

Mr. Khalid says Fridays are busy at the mosque, and the parking lot is typically packed with more than 400 vehicles. He insists it is necessary for his son to park on the side street in order to avoid the heavy congestion in the parking lot and get to work on time.

But the city says the prohibition is due to traffic created by the mosque-goers.

“There were safety concerns with respect to the type of parking that was going on. It wasn’t safe,” said Brian Wasyliw, the lawyer representing the City of Mississauga. “The city feels that it did act appropriately in dealing with the matter and they do feel like they have a strong defence.”

Mr. Khalid said he tried to negotiate with city officials before taking his complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal.

“They were saying that people were parking in front of the hydrants, people are blocking other people’s driveways. I say the laws are there in the books,” he said. “You can basically ticket that individual or tow the car away. The city has the right to do so.”

Mr. Wasyliw described it as a “touchy” subject and said both sides have agreed to discussions to see if the issue can be resolved before a hearing this fall.

National Post