Two Mississauga philanthropists appointed to the Order of Canada

Two Mississauga men are among the new appointments to the Order of Canada for 2021.

Governor General Mary Simon announced the 135 appointments on Wednesday, which included  two Companions, 39 Officers, one honorary Member and 93 Members.

Of Mississauga’s appointees, Mohamad Fakih was named a Member of the Order and Vaikuntam Iyer Lakshmanan was appointed as an Officer.

Fakih is a philanthropist and CEO of the Halal restaurant chain Paramount Fine Foods. He was appointed as a Member of the Order “for his business and community leadership, and for his philanthropic involvement in his community and abroad.”

Mohamad Fakih is a philanthropist and CEO of the Halal restaurant chain Paramount Fine Foods.

Fakih has made headlines over the years for his humanitarian and charity work, including pledging to help a Syrian family reopen their restaurant after they closed it due to reported death threats, raising funds for the Mississauga Food Bank amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and raising funds for the families of Iran plane crash victims.

In 2017, Fakih announced that Paramount was going to pay for the funerals of six Muslim men who were gunned down in Quebec City’s Sainte-Foy neighbourhood. Fakih also pledged to donate money to help cover the cost of repairs to the mosque.

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He has previously been named the Mississauga Board of Trade’s Business Person of the Year in 2019, and has been given the Key to the City in Mississauga.

Mississauga author Vaikuntam Iyer Lakshmanan was also appointed to the Order as an Officer.

Lakshmanan holds a number of patents and was recognized by the Order “for his philanthropy and for his expertise in hydrometallurgy and business, which have greatly benefited his profession, community and Canada-India relations.”

The Order of Canada is one the country’s highest civilian honours and was created in 1967 to recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

More than 7,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order, and have “changed our nation’s measure of success and, through the sum of their accomplishments, have helped us build a better Canada,” the office of the Governor General said in a statement.

Appointments are made by the governor general on the recommendation of the Advisory Council for the Order of Canada.