Apology to Muslim-Canadian seen as ‘one step forward’
Philanthropic owner of Paramount chain launched legal battle after agitator filmed ‘defamatory’ remarks outside restaurant
When Mohamad Fakih first received the video, he watched it alone; he wanted to make sure it was acceptable to show his kids. Then, the prominent Muslim-Canadian businessman gathered his wife and three boys and, together, the family watched the taped apology that took them more than a year of turmoil and thousands of dollars in legal fees to obtain.
In the two-minute clip, Ranendra “Ron” Banerjee — a man the family has never met — apologized to Fakih for making “defamatory and disparaging” comments about him and his popular restaurant chain, Paramount Fine Foods. Banerjee admitted to saying Par- amount only let in patrons who were “jihadist” and have raped their wives “at least a few times.” But, as he said in the video publicly released Monday, he now realizes it was wrong to attack Fakih simply because of his religion and that “such hate has no place in Canada.”
When the video ended, Fakih turned to his oldest son and asked him what he thought. “It’s good,” the 14-year-old said slowly. “But it’s not right.”
Fakih agrees. This long-awaited apology — provided as part of a Dec. 7 settlement agreement in a defamation lawsuit Fakih filed against Banerjee last year — marks an important victory not only for him and his family.
It is also an important milestone for the broader struggle against hate speech and rising Islamophobia in Canada.
But the ordeal has also taken a significant financial and emotional toll on Fakih and his family. While the settlement is important, it is just one small step, he said; mere days before Banerjee’s apology, Statistics Canada reported that 2017 saw a record number of hate crimes across the country, with the majority targeting Muslim, Black and Jewish communities.
“It’s one step forward, but it’s only the beginning,” Fakih said. “I realize that there could be another (incident) tomorrow, with somebody else, and it could be one of my staff or one of my friends.”
Fakih’s legal battle against Banerjee began on July 20, 2017, when the anti-Muslim agitator showed up outside a Mississauga location of Paramount Fine Foods with online provocateur Kevin Johnston, another fixture at anti-Muslim rallies in the GTA. They were filmed making remarks Fakih alleges to be defamatory and the videos were widely disseminated online, including on Johnston’s website, FreedomReport.ca.
Fakih sued them both in August 2017 and while his lawsuit against Johnston is still ongoing, Banerjee asked to settle after an interim ruling by the Superior Court of Justice that rejected his attempts to quash the lawsuit this spring.
Banerjee had previously argued he went to Paramount because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was attending a fundraiser there and he wanted to protest the federal government’s $10.5-million payout to former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr. Therefore, he said, his comments were re- lating to a matter of public interest.
But in June, Justice Shaun Nakatsuru ruled the lawsuit should proceed because Banerjee’s comments “involve hallmarks of hate” and do not relate to a matter of public interest — a decision legal experts described as precedential because it made clear legitimately hateful expression could not be protected simply by claiming it was made in the public interest.
In addition to his “unqualified apology” to Fakih, which Banerjee made both in writing and video, the settlement also included a confidential cash payment and “consent to judgment” of $100,000 — meaning Banerjee will be liable for that amount if he ever makes similar comments against Fakih, his family or Paramount again.
“I will not make public comments of this nature in the future,” Banerjee said in his videotaped apology, reading from a sheet of paper. “I hope everyone seeing or reading this apology learns from my mistake.”
In reaction to Banerjee’s settlement, the executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said that building inclusive communities also means “challenging such hatemongers to ensure that everyone feels safe and secure.”
“At NCCM, we regularly receive reports from Canadian Muslims who are facing similar circumstances of hate directed at them,” Ihsaan Gardee said in an emailed statement. “We commend Mr. Fakih for taking a stand against such bigotry.”
On Monday, Fakih celebrated the settlement by making a $25,000 donation to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a nonprofit organization that monitors and studies hate activity. Fakih said he wants to empower other Canadians who may not have access to the same financial resources for combating hate speech through lengthy and costly legal battles.
An immigrant from Lebanon, Fakih has built Paramount Fine Foods into a successful restaurant chain with 70 locations worldwide. He is also known for his philanthropic efforts, which include supporting Syrian refugees and offering to pay for the funerals of worshippers killed in last year’s Quebec City mosque attack.
Fakih said he has wanted nothing more than to be accepted in Canada, but Banerjee and Johnston’s comments made him feel for the first time he wasn’t welcome here. Many friends and family discouraged him from pursuing the lawsuit, he said, but the “comments were so vile, so evil, so hateful that I simply couldn’t not stand up against them and do the right thing.”
In addition to his statements from July 2017, Banerjee has also been previously filmed describing Islam as evil and stating that Muslims should be banned from civilized countries, Nakatsuru wrote in his ruling from June. He also wrote that Banerjee administers several Twitter accounts that have made anti-Muslim statements, including that a dead Muslim is a net gain for humanity and Muslims are rotten from the time they are born. (Banerjee previously testified he “may or may not have written those tweets.”)
Johnston, who recently finished second in the mayoral race in Mississauga, is currently facing a hate crime charge relating to multiple alleged incidents involving online commentary targeting Muslims, according to Peel Regional Police. In his statement of defence to Fakih’s defamation lawsuit, Johnston denied the allegations and said any assertion he has “ever promoted hate is a fabrication.”
Fakih said he’s watched Banerjee’s video several times and while the apology is gratifying, it still makes him angry.
So much damage has already been done, he said. His 4-yearold son was traumatized by an encounter at a shopping mall, where Johnston followed Fakih and his children while videotaping and badgering him about supposed ties to terrorism.
“For three nights, he was waking up and saying ‘Who’s that man who wants to hurt my dad?’ ” Fakih said.
His oldest son also came home from school one day with a picture his friend found online. The photo was photoshopped to make it appear Fakih’s hands and face were covered in blood.
“There is an anger inside of me and I’m sure my son will never forget this story,” Fakih said. “It makes them understand that they need to stand up for the things that we believe in as Canadians.”