Haroon Siddiqui is editorial page editor emeritus of the Toronto Star, a senior fellow at Massey College, and a member of the Order of Canada, is a brown and Muslim Canadian, who was born In India in 1942. He worked for Toronto Star from 1978 to 2015. “My Name Is Not Harry,” his memoir, was launched last month.
The memoir reflects his experiences, exposures, and opinions as a political analyst on Canadian and global affairs. He saw 10 Canadian prime ministers in office and reported from 50 nations. Mr. Siddiqui’s’ vast experience in the corridors of power, current news coverage, and far furlong battlefields, is layered with deep insight, journalistic expertise, and thorough knowledge.
The most complete gift of God is a life based on knowledge – Ali Bin Abu Talib (661 AD).
Mr. Siddiqui also covered the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, Ayatollah Khomeini’s Iranian revolution, and the post 9/11 era.
His sincere effort in search of truth, has given him a prominent and respectful position in Canadian society.
In his memoirs, he has shown a new way to all immigrants coming to Canada, he tells how Canada let him succeed on his own terms. He didn’t forget his faith, his freedom of speech, his cultural values, and his connections to ancestral land. He opposed the use of free speech as a permit to hate speech, he didn’t do as Romans did in Rome; he feels one who obeys the law is a true Canadian.
Recently, I got an opportunity to get acquainted with Mr. Siddiqui’s views on various aspects of Canadian social and political life, and I put a few questions before him, which he very kindly replied, and allowed me to share with our readers.
When asked about the challenges he faced in his early days in Canada and Canadian journalism, he replied, “I worked at the Press Trust of India news agency in Bombay (now Mumbai) from 1963 to 1965. I came to Canada in 1967. Did not get a journalism job. Everyone wanted “Canadian experience.” I went to the Brandon Sun in Manitoba with the intention of being there for one year but ended up staying for 10. It was a great experience.”
Next question was, what kind of opposition did you face in covering very sensitive geopolitical situations in the last fifteen years of your career?
He replied, ” Not much.I was lucky to work for the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest newspaper, which gave me the freedom to write what I wanted”.
When asked about the changing complexion of Canadian society, how did you see the attitude of Canadians toward new immigration policy, which would bring over 500,000 new immigrants every year after 2025?
He replied, “multiculturalism changed Canada, for the better. Now we are the only Western nation with an overwhelming consensus in favor of immigration. This is remarkable at a time when skin color is the major fault line in the US and across Europe”.
I also asked: what is your advice for the people of different cast, colour, and creed to live together in peace and harmony?
He replied” Be yourself – but excel in whatever you do.”
It’s the best advice to build a peaceful and prosperous multicultural society.
I asked him, how to maintain the highest standards of professional journalism with rapidly changing values in an environment where forces spreading negativity are stronger than those who are trying to promote love and harmony?
Mr. Siddiqui replied ”There is no silver bullet. We all must keep raising the voice of common values, civility, and democracy”.
He has shown a direction, as humanity is our community, and we must live and grow together.
Haroon Siddiqui’s long experience in the changing landscape of the Canadian nation, provides guidance to all Canadians, as he believes, Canadians must work together for the prosperity of Canada. He has written in his columns, Canadians hold multiculturalism as the defining feature of our nationhood, ahead of such traditional unifying symbols as the national anthem, the national flag, hockey, the beaver, or our great outdoors.
His bold and realistic approach, and analysis of important geopolitical global issues earned him many awards. His career has been committed to diversity and equality of opportunity in newsrooms and in society at large. Haroon Siddiqui was honored with a lifetime achievement award by the Canadian Journalism Foundation this year (2023), in recognition of his decades-long groundbreaking career in Canadian journalism and his commitment to diversity, journalistic integrity and social justice.
In 2002, he was awarded the World Press Freedom Award by the National Press Club in Ottawa.
In 2001 he became a member of the order of Ontario for crafting “a broader definition of the Canadian identity” inclusive of our First Nations, French Canadians, and newer Canadians. In the same year he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from York University.
Mr. Siddiqui shared a 1983 National Newspaper Award on spot news reporting. In 1998. Siddiqui received a Professional Man of the Year award from Indo Canadian Chamber of Commerce and a media award from the Canadian Islamic Congress.
Kathleen Wynne, Former Premier of Ontario in her review on Haroon Siddiqui memoir has commented its a beautiful memoir. It is, of course, his story and a rich, fascinating one. But as always with Haroon, when he writes, we learn about ourselves as human beings and as Canadians.
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