Wadih Fares (BEng (TUNS)’80) always knew his father, Maurice, was a generous man. As a young boy in Diman, Lebanon, he often witnessed the elder Fares, a road contractor, reach into his pocket to give money to someone in need – money he could barely afford to spare. What Fares did not know was the extent of his father’s largesse until he passed away.

“People he knew from work and from our village came to me and said ‘He loaned us $2,000.’ ‘He loaned us $5,000,’” says Fares. “Over the years, he managed to create a bit of wealth for himself and increased his giving. Now, when I give money to my village, they say ‘God bless the soul of your dad. You’re just like him.’”

He pauses and smiles. “You cannot run away from this influence.”

Returning the favour

Indeed, the President and CEO of WM Fares Group is a man who has never passed up an opportunity to make a difference. Over the years, the Honorary Consul of Lebanon for the Maritime Provinces has been a board member and donor for many charitable organizations and engines of economic development. They include Pier 21, Dalhousie University, QEII, the Minister’s Immigration Advisory Council, the IWK, the Halifax International Airport Authority, the Waterfront Development Corporation and the Halifax West Community Theatre Project. In fact, he’s actively involved in several of these initiatives right now.

You have to wonder how this Order of Canada recipient finds the time and energy to juggle so many community commitments while running a successful building design, project management and development business. Fares doesn’t fully know how he manages it, but he can tell you why he does it.

“I enjoy it. It’s rewarding. When you give from your heart, I really believe you will be rewarded somehow. And when I look at my life, I feel I am where I am because I believe in doing good.”

It is also a way for Fares to acknowledge the friends, family and community that helped him escape a civil war in Lebanon at the age of 18. “There’s a quote by Kahlil Gibran that’s very near and dear to me: I felt in my heart I should give a little because I was given so much. I think it’s important to recognize the fact that you were helped to get to where you are. And I was helped by so many.”

Fares had fought in that civil war briefly because every family was required to send one man to the frontlines. He decided it should be him because the university where he planned to study engineering had closed, he’d had military training in school, and it would allow his father to continue providing for the family. But after a particularly heavy night of fighting, his mother urged him to leave. She had brothers in Nova Scotia willing to sponsor him if he could get to Canada. Intense negotiations with the army followed and, soon after, Fares was on his way to Halifax to live with his grandmother and enroll in the engineering program at Dalhousie University.

Helping hands at Dal

Excited to be in Canada because it was a bilingual country – he had learned to speak French in school in Lebanon – Fares didn’t know that Halifax was a predominately English speaking community, or that the Dalhousie program was only offered in English. There was another surprise to come. In a meeting with the dean, where Fares’ cousin served as interpreter, he discovered he would be doing the program in four years, not five.

“I don’t know what he saw in me,” Fares says of the dean. “It was a real vote of confidence because I did complete it in four years.”

Classmates and professors were also supportive. During exam week in his first year of studies, one of Fares’ uncles died and he managed to get an extension in several subjects, including Physics. The night before he was scheduled to write that exam, a classmate came over with the test and they reviewed it, but there was one question Fares couldn’t work out. The next day, he left it blank and headed to catch a bus home, only to see the professor running after him to ask why he hadn’t finished the test.

“I told him my story and he said ‘Come with me,’ and he explained the whole question. He asked if I understood it. I said I did and he said ‘I’m going to give you 50% of the mark for this question.’ So I had a lot of help from everyone at Dalhousie. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have graduated.”

Help also came from the city’s Lebanese community when Fares realized that doing assignments in French was not a viable option. Friends and relatives translated his work from Arabic to English and he studied those translations intently to learn the language. Grateful for the community’s support, he began volunteering with the Diman Association of Canada. It wasn’t long before he became Association President, leading the effort to establish a Lebanese school in Halifax. The school proved so successful, he soon found himself president of the newly formed Heritage Language Association of Nova Scotia, and then president of the Multicultural Association of Nova Scotia and chair of the province’s Advisory Council on Multiculturalism. All this before he had even turned 30. “I went up the ranks very fast. I was a name that started to be known in the multicultural community.”

Pier 21 Society

Now, Fares was being courted by boards, foundations and charitable organizations. Possessed of his father’s generosity, he found it hard to say no, particularly when he was asked to join the board of directors of the Pier 21 Society, co-founded by Ruth Goldbloom.

“Many of my ancestors came through Pier 21, including my grandfather. The reason I am here – the Lebanese community is here – is because of Pier 21.”

Fares believed that Pier 21 should be a national museum to honour the immigrants who helped build this country. This was at a time when no national museums existed outside Ottawa, yet he knew the expenses of maintaining Pier 21 were such that the society couldn’t do it without government support. “We started lobbying, and we had some very powerful people on the board. We all used our own connections, particularly Ruth, and sure enough, the Heritage Department started working with us to make it happen. I truly think it was the best thing to happen for Halifax, Nova Scotia and Canada. “

It was also, in many ways, the best thing that happened to Fares, and not just because he made a lifelong friend in Ruth Goldbloom. He helped create awareness of the vital role of immigrants in Canada’s history.

“I believe we need more immigrants in Nova Scotia. I believe they will make us better. A lazy person will not immigrate. People willing to risk their lives trying to reach the shores of Canada are not lazy. They work hard, save money, open businesses and hire people. That’s good for the economy.”

That’s why Fares urges businesses to hire immigrants when the opportunity presents itself. “You will get your money’s worth. You will be happy. I’ve hired people from Lebanon, El Salvador, Malawi, China, Egypt, and Palestine. I’m not saying this because I promote immigration. I’m saying it as a Nova Scotian. If you have an opportunity, hire a newcomer. And call me if you’re not happy.”

The future

Fares is certainly happy, and very much focused on the future. He’s determined to carry on his father’s legacy of giving, and his children are following his lead, getting involved in boards and charities. Occasionally, they influence his community involvement decisions.

“My daughter was the one who got me involved with Special Olympics. She’s been involved with them since she was 16 years old. I never pushed them to do things like that. But I am really happy and grateful that they do.”

Even so, Fares isn’t entirely ready to leave the task of making a difference it in the hands of the next generation. If anything, he’s hoping he can continue to do good work in perpetuity through the WM Fares Foundation, and to always be there when someone approaches him for help.

“My hope is that God will give me the energy, health and fortune to keep doing what I am doing for a very long time.”