Maronite Church members upset about allegations
According to the article, Ward 23 councillor, Paul Smit, said he doesn’t condone fireworks and he wasn’t aware he had given any permission for the firework display on May 31.
LIEFDE EN VREDE – After the article appeared in the Comaro CHRONICLE, (June 17, page 10, Fireworks display causes outrage) Michelle Nassif, who organised the annual Maronite Festival for Sunday May 31, said she’s extremely upset about allegations suggesting that the festival went ahead without the necessary permission needed.
After the CHRONICLE reporter met with Michelle Nassif and Father M Chidiac of the Maronite Church, it was made clear that Clr Smit had sent an email on March 19 saying he no objections to the festival taking place at the church on May 31. When he was questioned about this he said, “There was definitely a mix-up in communication and I thought when the reporter asked me for my comment she was referring to another firework display at the church. I did give consent for the festival to go ahead on May 31.”
According to Michelle there was one complaint from an Aspen Hills resident and no more. “We’ve held this festival annually for 15 years and the firework display only lasts for about 15 minutes. I can understand residents complaining if the fireworks were set off for hours but we did have the correct permit to have the firework display and the incorrect information in the previous article caused some upset with our parishioners. We do God’s work here in our church and work within the community reaching out where we are needed. We would just like to set the record straight,” she added.
