A church north of Toronto whose leader has been accused by some former congregants of sexual or financial misconduct is facing dozens of municipal bylaw charges, including charges of operating illegally on protected Greenbelt land.
asserted
leader → accuse → land
Even as Miracle Arena For All Nations church has battled Vaughan, Ont., officials over its presence on protected land, it has received promises to work for a Greenbelt zoning “exception” from a provincial cabinet minister who has frequently visited the church.
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who → battle → church
In total, City of Vaughan officials have laid 50 bylaw charges against Miracle Arena — owned and run by self-proclaimed “prophet” Martin Kofi Danso — and three current or former associates, the Investigative Journalism Bureau has found.
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Bureau → lay → prophet
Danso himself is not charged.
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Danso → charge → ?
The bylaw issues range from alleged zoning infractions to property standards and animal welfare charges.
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issues → range → standards
The dispute over zoning for the land his church is built on goes back to 2020.
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church → zone → 2020
Danso said in a written statement that a church was allowed on the land based on a February 2020 zoning certificate he provided to IJB reporters.
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he → say → reporters
The document says a church is “permitted by the relevant zoning requirements.”
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church → say → requirements
But it cautions that site plan approval may be required and that the property may be designated as “protected countryside” under the Greenbelt Plan, which was established in 2005 and prohibits commercial development or expansion on protected lands.
uncertain
which → caution → lands
The certificate also notes that “a building permit is required” before any construction or major alterations to the property.
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permit → note → property
Through his lawyer, Danso also said that the church is operating legally on the basis of a Sept. 19, 1988, City of Vaughan bylaw that zoned its location, 10800 Weston Rd., as agricultural, which also permitted a church and a dwelling on the property.
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which → say → property
Vaughan city officials, however, told the IJB the “provincial Greenbelt Plan supersedes the city’s zoning by-law and does not allow for a place of worship on that property.”
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Plan → tell → property
Miracle Arena was “not lawfully established on this property….
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Arena → establish → property
It did not have planning approvals or building permits,” reads the City of Vaughan statement.
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statement → have → Vaughan
Danso’s zoning certificate is only valid for six months and expired before the church was constructed in late 2020, the city statement says.
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statement → expire → 2020
After the church was founded, then expanded, on Greenbelt land starting in 2020, Danso received support from Vaughan-Woodbridge MPP Michael Tibollo, now the province’s associate attorney general.
“One of the things we have always said is we will not touch the Greenbelt, but I think there are sometimes exceptions.…
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I → found → Greenbelt
I will help and I made that commitment,” he said.
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he → help → commitment
Tibollo has had public interactions with Danso at least 11 times between 2022 and 2025.
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Tibollo → have → 2022
He also introduced Danso on at least two occasions to Ontario Premier Doug Ford — by phone and at Tibollo’s own community summer barbecue — and encouraged other government ministers, including current Minister of Energy and Mines Stephen Lecce, to visit Miracle Arena.
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He → introduce → Arena
Scarborough Centre MPP David Smith is also among the politicians who have visited the church.
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who → visit → church
Tibollo did not respond to repeated requests for comment regarding his commitment to help change the zoning at 10800 Weston Rd. or his relationship with Danso.
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Tibollo → respond → Danso
Ford, Lecce and Smith also did not respond to requests for comment.
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Ford → respond → comment
The bylaw charges against Miracle Arena are to be heard in court in November and December.
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charges → hear → November
According to information published on the City of Vaughan’s property bylaws page, complaints and violations require “significant” investigation before a fine or penalty is issued.
uncertain
fine → accord → investigation
Charges are laid as a “last resort.”
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Charges → lay → resort
Ontario’s Greenbelt is a protected swath of farmland, forests and wetlands spanning two-million acres across southern Ontario.
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Greenbelt → span → Ontario
Danso and his wife, JoAnne, purchased the 12-acre plot of land where their church now sits in May 2020 for $5.6 million.
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church → purchase → million
The real estate listing at the time shows the property was zoned as “Greenbelt,” “agricultural” and “heritage.
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property → show → Greenbelt
At the time, satellite images show a house and large shed on the property surrounded by dirt roads and fields littered with trucking, shipping and construction equipment.
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images → show → equipment
Those structures pre-date the property’s 2005 Greenbelt designation.
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structures → pre → designation
Once the Dansos took possession, the property began a transformation.
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property → take → transformation
In 2022, Premier Ford opened parts of the Greenbelt to housing and development, but not the parcel of land where Miracle Arena sits.
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Arena → open → land
Ford reversed the decision to open the Greenbelt in 2023 after investigations by Ontario’s Auditor General and Integrity Commissioner found the process favoured politically connected developers.
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process → reverse → developers
In May 2022, MPP Tibollo attended Miracle Arena ahead of the provincial election.
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Tibollo → attend → election
Speaking to the congregation, he called Danso “an incredible leader” while detailing his own track record in the private and public sector.
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he → speak → sector
A month later, Tibollo returned following his reelection and publicly thanked Danso and his congregants for their support before making his commitment to assist the church with the Greenbelt zoning issue.
‘It was awful.
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It → return → issue
It was smelling’
Miracle Arena’s challenges reach beyond alleged breaches of Greenbelt zoning restrictions.
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challenges → smell → restrictions
In an address to regional council for York Region in September 2023, Danso raised safety concerns about the sanitary conditions of the property, notably the strain on its septic tank, at a time when the church was providing shelter to African refugees.
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church → raise → refugees
Despite the zoning issues, Danso asked the city to help connect the building to the municipal sewage system to relieve the pressure on the septic tank.
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Danso → ask → tank
Fitz-Roy Gordon, a current candidate for York regional council in the Oct. 26 municipal election, was working with refugees at Miracle Arena at this time through advocacy organization ANCHOR, founded by him and his wife, Shernett Martin.
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Gordon → work → him
…and 47 more, not listed.
The Aporia
