The Empire Club of Canada Presents
2023 Nation Builder of the Year – Wes Hall
Chairman: Sal Rabbani, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
Moderator
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer, Chief Executive Officer, BlackNorth Initiative
Distinguished Guest Speakers
The Honourable Justice Donald McLeod, Founding Partner, the McLeod Group
Arlene Dickinson, Executive Chair & Co-Managing Partner M&A, Believeco Partners
Walied Soliman, Global Chair, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada
Saurabh Popat, Co-Chair, 2023 Nation Builder of the Year Committee, 2nd Vice-Chair & Director, Empire Club of Canada
Paul M. Young, Co-Chair, 2023 Nation Builder of the Year Committee & Director, Empire Club of Canada
Wes Hall, ICD.D, Executive Chairman & Founder, WeShall Investments Inc., Kingsdale Advisors, The BlackNorth Initiative, Dragon on CBC’s Dragon’s Den
Head Table Guests
The Honourable Michael H. Tulloch, Chief Justice of Ontario
Sarah Baldeo, CEO & Equity Partner, IDQ
Natasha Callender-Wilson, Vice President, Bass Installation
Michael Cooper, Chief Responsibility Officer, Dream
Joe Cressy, SVP, External Relations, Communications & Real Estate Development, George Brown College
Chief Myron Demkiw,, Chief of Police, Police Services of Toronto
Christine Ferguson, Christine Ferguson – Counsel, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
Kim Furlong, CEO, Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association
Jasmin Ganie-Hobbs, Director Tech Financing, BDC
Giles Gherson, President & CEO, Toronto Region Board of Trade
Mohamed Lachemi, President & Vice-Chancellor, Toronto Metropolitan University
Sherry Larjani, President & Founder, Spotlight Development Inc.
Wes Love, President, Taurus Craco Machinery Inc.
Rob Sainsbury, Managing Director and Head Telecom, Media, Technology & Health Care Group, Scotiabank
Flavio Volpe, Director, Empire Club of Canada
Introduction
It is a great honour for me to be here at the Empire Club of Canada today, which is arguably the most famous and historically relevant speaker’s podium to have ever existed in Canada. It has offered its podium to such international luminaries as Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Audrey Hepburn, the Dalai Lama, Indira Gandhi, and closer to home, from Pierre Trudeau to Justin Trudeau; literally generations of our great nation’s leaders, alongside with those of the world’s top international diplomats, heads of state, and business and thought leaders.
It is a real honour and distinct privilege to be invited to speak to the Empire Club of Canada, which has been welcoming international diplomats, leaders in business, and in science, and in politics. When they stand at that podium, they speak not only to the entire country, but they can speak to the entire world.
[National Anthem Performed by Soul Power]
Announcer
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your host, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Empire Club of Canada, Sal Rabbani.
Welcome Address by Sal Rabbani, President, Board of Directors, Empire Club of Canada
I’ve just got to check the time. Well, good afternoon—it says good morning, but—welcome to the 120th season of the Empire Club of Canada. My name is Sal Rabbani, and I’m the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Empire Club of Canada.
To formally begin this afternoon, I want to acknowledge that we are gathering today on the traditional and treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the homelands of the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples. We encourage everyone to learn more about the Traditional Territory on which you work and live.
The Nation Builder of the Year award celebrates and provides a platform for extraordinary individuals building Canada’s national identity, and making significant contributions to this great nation. On behalf of the Empire Club of Canada, it is my honour and pleasure to recognize and celebrate today, one of the most inspirational business leaders in our country, Wes Hall.
Entrepreneur, philanthropist, changemaker. Beyond his incredible accomplishments, that we’ll have the pleasure to hear about today—and there are many—Wes also has a superpower. His superpower is his relentlessness, in showing us that nothing is impossible. When others said, “This isn’t possible,” Wes Hall said, “We will find a way.” Wes refused to let context define his future. In 1985, when he was 16 years old, he came to Canada from Jamaica, and set about becoming a businessman. His story is the quintessential newcomer success story, and he is living proof of the enormous potential that newcomers bring to this country.
When others said, “It’s not my problem,” Wes Hall said, “Bring it on.” Wes is one of the most powerful and constructive voices for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Canada. In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, when we were glued to the screens watching in horror, what was happening to George Floyd, Wes did something about it. He founded the Black North Initiative, rallying corporate Canada behind ending systemic anti-Black racism. Most recently, he also founded We Shall Investments, a private equity firm, with a diverse portfolio of companies, predominantly supporting BIPOC entrepreneurs.
When others said, “That’s good enough,” Wes Hall said, “We can do better.” He built a business from scratch, scaled it, and brought it to the top. Kingsdale Advisors is today one of the most prominent shareholder advisory firms. You’d be hard-pressed to find a more relentless, restless, and ambitious entrepreneur in Canada. Ambitious for growth, his growth, and others’ growth. Ambitious to do better, and always uplift people around him.
You know, in my day job, I have the honour of working with entrepreneurs, these incredible people who create jobs and wealth, and who inspire us with their determination and innovation. This is another reason why I’m so incredibly proud that Wes is being named our 2023 Nation Builder of the Year. I’ve said it many times before, I’ll say it again: when life asks us, “What will I become? What will I make of myself?” I believe we answer these questions in the choices we make every day, over the course of our lifetime.
We should recognize and celebrate people who decide to make entrepreneurship their life’s choice, because it’s a tough and challenging choice. People like Wes dream big, work hard, and make a lot of sacrifices. But they have a huge impact on their communities, and our prosperity as a country.
We have with us today over 30 students, and I’m proud of everyone that’s in the room here today—and I see you all—30 students from the Toronto District School Board, from Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, from post-secondary institutions, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Toronto, there you go, George Brown College, and Humber College. I love it! Also, I wanted to make note that the Empire Club proudly sponsored a copy of Wes’s book, “No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot,” for every student here in the room today. I hope you enjoy the read. And to those students, my dear colleagues, you have a wonderful journey ahead of you. We hope Wes’s story motivates you, and inspires you, and shows you that nothing is impossible. Listen to his advice from his struggles and successes, then make your own bold and purposeful life choices. Find your superpower, and hopefully one day, we will cheer for one of you on this stage, right here. Thank you.
The Empire Club is a not-for-profit organization, and we’d like to recognize our sponsors, who generously support the club, and make these events possible and complimentary for our online viewers to attend. Thank you to our VIP Reception Sponsors, BLG, Dream, George Brown College, Norton Rose Fulbright, Scotia Bank, Spotlight Development, and Toronto Metropolitan University. Thank you. And thank you to our Supporting Sponsors, Dream Legacy Foundation, APMA, BDO, City, KPMG, Fortis, Deloitte, COREA [?], Johnson & Johnson, OREA, Huron University, and Toyota. And thank you, also, to our In-Kind Sponsor, Humber College, and thank you to our Season Sponsors: Amazon Web Services, Bruce Power, and Hydro One. For those joining us online today, if you require technical assistance, please start a conversation with our team, using the chat button on the right-hand side of your screen.
It is now my pleasure to introduce what other Canadians have to say about Wes’s achievements and impact. Please welcome to the stage, The Honourable Justice Donald McLeod. Justice McLeod.
The Honourable Justice Donald McLeod, Founding Partner, the McLeod Group
Good afternoon, everyone. You no doubt today will hear about the accomplishments of Wes Hall. You will hear about the doctorates, you’ll hear about the cars, you’ll hear about the clothing, the way that he gets down when he wants to, you’ll hear about the philanthropy, you’ll hear about a series of things that actually let you know that there is a greatness involved in this individual that we’ve all come to know as Wes. You will hear about so many things that your head might very well spin, because there’s a lot of things that he has done. He will go from one spot to the next, to this spot, to the next, and he will still keep going and going and going, and everyone will have so many things to say about just how great this individual is.
I’m here to give a testimonial. And I will start by saying none of those things matter to me. It doesn’t matter to me how great you think he is. It doesn’t matter to me his clothing, his cars, his money. It doesn’t matter to me. I’m giving a commentary on behalf of the community. Not just myself, but also the community. The Black community could care less about the colour of his car, or how fast it drives. The Black community could care less about those things, because the impact of those—although great, and good, and nice, and gets people in the room, it doesn’t necessarily give us what it is that the community may very well need.
So, in order for my testimonial to begin, I have to actually go back, and back, and back, to six years ago. Six years ago, we meet at his house. It’s a meeting that happens—and what it is, is actually the start of what people have now called the Black North Initiative. So, I’m there, myself, and others—in fact, Dehabo was there, which you’ll hear from again, later on. And it’s in a room, and it’s full of all these individuals. And Wes has me say a few words, and I’m talking about the Federation of Black Canadians, and I’m talking about what’s necessary, and I’m talking about what’s needed. And the room is full of individuals who are there listening, for the very first time, in order for them to hear what it is that, in fact, Wes is about to unveil. And so, he unveils the thing which is actually the precursor to the Black North Initiative. The conversation goes well. Everyone is all enthralled, they’re engaged, they’re talking, they’re asking questions, they want to make sure that they understand what this is. And everybody seems to be gracious, and kind, and happy, and worthy of being in that room. But now, the hard part begins. The hard part is now people calling you back, because now we want you to be a part of this. Nobody calls. Nobody’s hand gets raised. Emails get sent out—in fact, I’ve seen the emails—they get sent out to particular individuals that say, “Hey, look, I’m glad you came to my house, I’m glad you ate my chicken, I’m glad you had my food. Now, I’d like you to actually sign up for this.” Not a hand is raised. So, for my testimonial, it actually begins there. It doesn’t begin here, with the rest of you, because this is actually the consequence of that. But where it begins for me is at that meeting, all those years ago, where nobody puts their hands up. You’re actually supposed to stop at that point. At that point, you’re supposed to say to yourself, “You know what? I’ve had enough. I tried. I did my best. I tried everything I could. I had this meeting, everyone ate their food, and nobody’s come back.” But he didn’t.
Now, there is a saying that a proud poet laureate from Trelawny, Jamaica, Miss Dati, who happens to live just down the road from my grandmother, who I call Mama, she says, “If you want to do good, you nose haffi run.” I’ll say it again, but I’ll say it this time for you guys. “If you want to do well, you’re going to have to work so hard that even your nose would run.” Said the way that we know, “Your nose haffi run.” Now, what that meant was that if you are going to work hard, it doesn’t matter what it is that’s in your way, only working hard is what makes your nose actually run that way. Nothing else. You can’t sit down in air conditioning and think it’s all going to happen. And Miss Dati was right. And so, when I say this testimonial, I say it from the perspective that I think that Wes is persistent. And that’s what I think is important.
Now, I actually decided that I would write my definition of what I believe this persistence is. It’s the ability to push past the collective naysayers, in order to realize an unexpected outcome. So, other people are going to say no, other people are going to say you can’t do it. It’s a chorus of individuals that will actually come out and let you know just how bad this idea really is. But in order for you to push past that, the persistence that’s required means that you will push past, irrespective of what others have to say, and that’s what my testimonial is. My testimonial is the suggestion that it didn’t matter how it finished; it mattered to me how it started. It didn’t matter to me what it looked like when I was in this room with all of you; what mattered is when we were sitting down, wondering why nobody responded to the email. For me, it doesn’t matter how well you shine after you’ve been polished; it’s how well you looked when you were worn and tattered.
And so, for me, my testimonial is simple: the idea that there are people, and persons, and Wes out there, who’s willing to push, persist, irrespective of the outcome, irrespective of whether you get a prize or you don’t, whether you get praise or you don’t, whether or not there are people on Instagram and this and that that are saying this—it’s not that. For me, the testimony is less about the shiny things; it’s about the things that dulled, as a result of things being put on your back.
And so, Wes, I start the testimonials by simply saying thank you. Not just to you, but also to Christine, also to your kids, for knowing that dad’s not going to be home all the time. But I think a testimonial that begins with an understanding that, in order for us to get to where we need to, we have to find examples not of the polished, but of the dulled; not of the finished, but of the fixing; not of the ones that have been perfected, but that which is in progress. And so, Wes, I am thankful that these individuals are here. I am thankful that there are those that have recognized, after all of this time, that there is something to be said for Black individuals that are willing to stand up on a promise, and be persistent in the things that they know are eventual, the outcomes that we need. And so, I say all of that—well, now I wish I could raise a glass, but I can’t. But I will say thank you. Thank you.
Sal Rabbani
Thank you, the Honourable Justice McLeod. Next, I would like to invite Arlene Dickinson, Executive Chair and Co-Managing Partner of Believeco Partners, to the stage.
Arlene Dickinson, Executive Chair & Co-Managing Partner M&A, Believeco Partners
Why do I have to follow that? Like, wow, just, what he said—I can sit down. All right, so, persistence. I have a different story about Wes. And I want to start with, you know, when you get older, you don’t make friends easily. You don’t make friends easily because you don’t have that much time, and you’re very precious with it, and you want to spend it with people that matter to you. And you don’t really want to invest in new relationships quite that easily. So, when I first met Wes, he came on the show, and I looked at him, and I went, “Okay, like, this guy’s here for the TV.” And I thought, you know, like, he’s flashy, he’s, he’s out there. And then I started to talk to him, and I knew instantly, he was going to be my friend. As soon as I spoke to him, I realized that this was a man who had shared humble beginnings, the way I understood humble beginnings, who had a shared sense of purpose, in terms of listening to the entrepreneurs—not just being there for the television, but caring what they were saying—who wanted to do the right thing. And did it with some flamboyance; but because that was actually what got him the attention he needed to divert it to the right thing.
And sometimes when we get fame—and Wes, I mean, I’m in your shadow half the time, now, because you’re so much larger than life—but when you have it, it’s only good for deflecting it to things that matter. And that’s what Wes does better than anybody. It’s not really about him—he might think it’s about him sometimes, but it’s not really. And when I think about Wes, yes, persistence is, t absolutely runs through everything he does. But it’s attention to detail. I want you to think about the song and the band that actually came up, the group that came up and sang today. I want you to think about their version of “O Canada.” I want you to think about the food you ate. I want you to think about who’s in this room. I want you to think about the books that were given out, and to the students that are in this room. That is purposeful. That is not by accident. Wes thinks about detail. He thinks about making sure that we all can see what it looks like, so that we can start to emulate it.
When he talks about DEI, when he talks about diversity, equality, inclusion, he actually demonstrates it in the events he goes to, in the things that he hosts, in where he tries to make a difference in the world. And he fills rooms like this with diversity. And if you can’t look around this room and understand that this, that is the impact of Wes Hall, then you’re missing the note. The note is that this is what he does. He brings us together. He shows how much we should pay attention to each other, and how much we should care about each other, and it’s because he has an attention to detail. And I respect that immensely.
Now, he sometimes isn’t as good on detail on the deals on the show—he takes claim for pretty much all of my deals, but Wes, we all know who’s the smarter one on there. But, but we have had, we have had, I guess there’s, what I started off saying, which is, you just don’t make friends easily. Not only did I inherit a friend in Wes, but I inherited a friend in his wife, Christine, who I have enormous respect for, because how she puts up with him every day is literally beyond me. But yeah, Christine is, Christine is amazing. And it does take a village. His children—Brentyn, you’re here, like, you know, you’re just another, you’re such a great example of all the values that your mom and dad have taught you, and it’s demonstrated in everything you’re doing—so, you not only have built a great business, you not only have managed to raise an amazing family, and have managed to have a lasting marriage, and lasting relationship with the people you care about; you have built, and helped build Canada. And I can’t imagine anything more important. And you’ve done it by helping entrepreneurs succeed, and by showing us all that it doesn’t matter where we came from, it doesn’t matter the colour of our skin, our gender, our race—it doesn’t matter any of those things. What matters is who we are, how we show up for each other, how we contribute to our country, and how we lead. And you, my friend, lead better than anybody I know. Proud to be your friend. Thank you.
Sal Rabbani
Thank you. Thank you, Arlene. I now would like to invite Walied Soliman, Global Chair, Norton Rose Fulbright, to the podium. Walied.
Walied Soliman, Global Chair, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada
You will never really understand Wes. Those were the solemn words of my father twelve years ago. I remember them distinctly. Wes’s family and my family were in Barbados on vacation, and we got to spend a lot of time with the Hall family. I watched my father intently, and quite lovingly, spend more time with this one friend of mine than any other before. My father’s upbringing in Egypt had many parallels with Wes’s story. Those words of my father came about a decade into my friendship with Wes. And like most sons, I dismissed them at the time. This was, of course, one of my closest friends at the time. And of course, I understood him. It took another ten years, when Wes’s book came out, and I proudly, routinely referred to him as my best friend, that I realized the old adage of how much smarter your father becomes, the older as a son you get.
All of us have read Wes’s book—if you haven’t, you must. It had special meaning for me. While I had heard most of the stories in the book over the years of our friendship, I could not put the book down. I read it straight without a break for six hours. I broke down many times, while reading that book. My father was right. My experiences, as challenging as I thought they were, did not really enable me to ever really understand the man I had become accustomed to calling my best friend. And maybe, that’s actually the biggest takeaway, as we reflect on Wes’s story: seeing another human being in a point in time cannot tell their story. To truly understand a friend, they must be willing, as Wes has, to tell their story, to tell it vulnerably. And it takes the capacity in all of us to actually listen, not to what we want to hear, but between the lines of what is being conveyed to us.
There are no words that can explain the pride I have in Wes and his family. Wes is a leader, a wise man, a family man, a man who takes his faith as seriously as he can. Being in his and his family’s proximity is one of the biggest blessings of me and my family’s life. Now, if my wife Dena was here at this precise moment, she would run to the microphone. She would literally walk onto the stage, grab the microphone, and shout, “Let me tell you about Christine.” So, let me channel the words of Dena as best I can. And she literally says this: the real hero of this success story is Christine Hall. First off—and I want to be very clear—Wes loves this woman dearly, but those who know, know, he is legit scared shitless of her. Because behind the patient, quiet demeanor, is a Thatcherite conviction, principle, and strength. Wes’s family success, and those who know, know this, are at the feet of Christine Hall, and she deserves today’s award side-by-side with Wes. Wes, to you and your family, congratulations. To everyone here, I promise you, God willing, this is the first of many celebrations of this family we will have for decades to come.
And I just want to—I just added this; it wasn’t in my written notes—but I’ll tell you, as we sit here, it’s remarkable to me, just a few years after George Floyd, just a few years after Black North, I can’t believe we are reading people talking negatively about DEI again. I can’t believe it. And if there’s one thing that we’re all going to do, Wes, not to just celebrate you here, is we’re going to continue down that march with you, notwithstanding when it becomes cool, or when it becomes popular. God bless everybody. Thank you very much.
Sal Rabbani
Thank you. Thank you very much, Walied. And I’d like to now take this time to welcome to the stage this year’s Co-Chairs of the Nation Builder of the Year Awards, our committee, Saurabh Popat, and Paul M. Young. Gents.
Saurabh Popat, Co-Chair, 2023 Nation Builder of the Year Committee, 2nd Vice-Chair & Director, Empire Club of Canada
Thanks so much, and welcome everyone. Incredible and inspirational testimonials. Thank you to The Honourable Justice McLeod, Arlene Dickinson, and Walied Soliman. Could we have another round of applause for those amazing individuals? [Applause] My name is Saurabh Popat. I’m the co-chair of today’s event, along with my esteemed colleague, Paul Young. It’s a real honour for me to be here today as a co-chair, not only in my capacity as a board member of the Empire Club of Canada, but somebody who’s truly inspired by Wes’s personal and professional journey. His journey as an immigrant to Canada from Jamaica is nothing short of remarkable, and embodies much of what we recognize in a Nation Builder.
There are so many of us here today, online around the country, myself included, who immigrated to this diverse and welcoming country. But Wes’s background is truly exceptional, given the seemingly insurmountable challenges that he overcame. From his childhood in rural Jamaica, to his youth growing up in Canada, and then onto his toughest journey towards becoming the successful, and sometimes underestimated, professional business leader that he is today—from the mailroom to the boardroom, I might add—as a philanthropist, and as a great Canadian that he is today.
Now, in Wes’s autobiography “No Bootstraps When You’re Barefoot,” he states, he makes a remarkable statement. He said that “What I’ve accomplished should not have been possible.” Think about that for a second. What I’ve accomplished should not have been possible. Yet, Wes is here today as a Nation Builder. And that’s because he’s persevered to accomplish the possible, and so much more. His journey, his challenges, his triumphs, his impact, and his leadership, to give back to Canadians, are learnings for all of us, and demonstrate that each of us must have an equal opportunity to earn our own bootstraps or pave our own way forward, no matter what our backgrounds are, no matter our lived experiences, and no matter what we look like. Thank you.
Paul M. Young, Co-Chair, 2023 Nation Builder of the Year Committee & Director, Empire Club of Canada
Thank you, Saurabh. It is clear why Mr. Hall has been chosen as a 2023 Nation Builder—congratulations, Christine. Please accept my congratulations, both. It has been an honour and a pleasure to co-chair this event. Thank you so much. Before I start my remarks, I want to thank the Board of Directors, the Nation Builder Selection Committee, and the Empire Club staff, who have worked hard to put this event together. And thank you to the many sponsors for their financial contributions, and especially you, the audience, for your presence to celebrate this special day.
Wes’s character and testimonials as a Nation Builder is very inspirational to me. My family’s immigrant story to Canada is very similar to many Canadian stories. In 1949, my grandfather came to this country to avoid political persecution from the Communists. My dad, who’s here today, arrived from Hong Kong in 1957 as a student, and became a child psychiatrist. My wife’s family also immigrated to Canada in the 1980’s, for a better life. Although life in Canada was not always easy. It was based on hard work, 365 days-a-year, and almost 30 years of working in a restaurant, persistence, perseverance in the face of many social and economic challenges, similar to yours.
As a second-generation Canadian, our country has come a long way, and I look at this diverse audience with pride. All of us here, as Canadians, each with our own stories, are gathered to celebrate Mr. Hall, as a successful Canadian entrepreneur who has been both a force of change and inspiration. As a country, we are headed on the right path, and Nation Builders such as Wes will continue to help lead the way. I would now like to invite Sal back to the podium, to present the Nation Builder of the Year award. Thank you.
Sal Rabbani
Thank you, Saurabh, and Paul—and hats off to Saurabh and Paul, for leading this committee [Applause] and the greater board, and the untold hours that went into making this event happen. It’s my absolute honour and pleasure to present the 2023 Nation Builder of the Year award to Mr. Wes Hall. Congratulations, Wes. The little boy who left Jamaica in 1985 would be proud to see you on this stage today.
[Nation Builder of the Year Award is presented to Wes Hall]
Sal Rabbani
Just want to make sure I get the order right. I’d like to welcome Mr. Wes Hall to the podium. Say a few words, sir.
Wes Hall, ICD.D, Executive Chairman & Founder, WeShall Investments Inc., Kingsdale Advisors, The BlackNorth Initiative, Dragon on CBC’s Dragon’s Den
Okay. All right. I think you gave me three minutes, right? Everybody else got all this time. And usually in show business, like, the headliner is the one with the great speech, so you guys got it reversed, okay? All these great things; I can’t top that. And so, I,I kind of had, had this speech ready. And then I heard everybody, and I looked at the audience, and I’m like, it’s all friends in the audience. I can’t have a speech when I speak to you guys, I got to just talk, okay? But I have three minutes. So, bear with me if I go a little bit longer, okay?
And so, first of all, thank you for the kind words that, you know, all my great friends have said to me—or about me. And you’re right about Christine. We’ve been married for coming on 32 years now. And if you watch Dragons’ Den, you’ll see all these entrepreneurs will come on and they pitch, right? And they’re in front of the Dragons, and they get all nervous pitching us, they forget their lines, okay. The biggest pitch that I had to make in my life was pitching Christine to mortgage the house, so I can get $100,000 to start Kingsdale. That’s the biggest pitch I had to make. It was tougher than pitching any investor in the world. Because we had three kids at the time, and we had a house, and I had a pretty decent paying job, and I told her that I wasn’t happy. She heard all the stories that I came home with, what I’ve experienced, the times I’ve been overlooked, the times that my credit was taken away from me and given to somebody else, the times that people told me that I didn’t deserve the paycheck I was making. She heard it all. So, when I went and I told her that I want to do this, the only way I told her that for me to reach my full potential is for me to start my own company and invest in myself, and she said, “I’m going to invest in you.” And she said, “Go mortgage the house and do what you need to do.”
So, that’s the best, that’s the place, that’s how it started, that’s how all this started. I built all I have over mortgaging my house for $100,000. And I had a great business idea—I thought it was pretty decent. I’m going to go and help companies who are dealing with shareholder activism, and I’m going to help companies dealing with hostile takeovers, and shareholders that are upset. That’s my pitch to her. She had no idea what I was talking about. And then I pitched it to all these bankers and potential investors, and they go, “What is activism? We’re a great community here in Canada. Nobody gets upset with each other in Canada. This is Canada. What are you thinking? Hostile takeovers? That will never happen in this country. And you’re a 34-year-old, and you’re Black, and you want to do this on Bay Street? Do you see anybody that looks like you here?” But I said, “Yes. I’m going to do it, though. Going to be the first—nothing wrong with being the first—but it won’t be the only.” And so, that’s how this all started, you know.
But I came here September 27th, 1985, 16 years old, went to Scarborough, Malvern, went to Lester B. Pearson High School—shout out to Pearson, up there, okay? My exposure to success was the person who owned the patty shop down the street, and the barber shop that cut my hair. That’s success. That’s an entrepreneur.
Somebody called me to get a job downtown—we didn’t know where “Downtown” was. There’s a bunch of subways that you got to take, and then some buses, and finally, get downtown from Scarborough. And when you go downtown, everybody’s looking at you saying, “Are you lost? What are you doing here?” “Oh, I’m looking for Commerce Court West. I got to go on the 13th floor.” When I got in the elevator in Commerce Court West on the 13th floor, to go to get that job interview to be in the mailroom, my ears popped. Never been in an elevator before. I lived in Canada, miles away from the core of the financial centre of the country, and I’ve never, never been in an elevator before. I got off on the 13th floor, and I walked out of the lobby of Stikeman Elliott. And I saw all these lawyers, and I see art, and I see expansive views, people wearing suits. I thought it was in an episode of “L.A. Law”—okay, you young people, “Suits.” See, more laughs. I’m like, where is this? This is a television show. That changed my life. I saw what was possible. My horizon was opened up. Now, I can see what I could become if I work a little bit harder.
I got the job. Monday morning—I went to Goodwill, I got a suit, and I wore it to work Monday morning, walked in the mailroom with a suit on. Everybody laughing at me in the mailroom. Everybody was wearing jeans and T-shirts. I was wearing a suit. And they go, “People are going to think you’re a lawyer.” I go, “What’s wrong with that?” You know, if you’re an immigrant, you’re going to have a very important document in your wallet, and it’s the most important document you’ll have. Not your credit card, not your driver’s licence, none of those things. It’s this document, your Canadian citizenship. That’s the most important document that we have as immigrants in our possession, and we keep it with us, even though we don’t need it anymore. Why do we do that? Because of what it means to us, the memories that it brings. But there’s certain things that it says on it. It says, “Wesley Junior Hall—if you have it, read it and take it out—is a Canadian citizen under the Citizenship Act, and as such, has the rights and privileges, and the duties and responsibilities, of a Canadian citizen.” That’s what it says.
So, let’s break it down. What rights do I have? What privileges do I have? And what is it that I’m entitled to, as a result of having those rights and privileges? When people think about entitlement, they use it in a profane way. “Oh, you’re entitled.” Entitlement means that you have the same rights and privileges as everybody else. You’re no better, you’re no worse. But what are the duties and responsibilities that I have, as a result of having the privilege of being given this card?
A few years ago, my one of her sons had a growth in his throat, and it was painful, it’s going to be damaging to him. And he had to go to SickKids to get an operation. And the day of the operation, he was crying, Christine was crying, I’m crying, we’re all crying, because we know it’s going to be painful. The doctors knew that it was going to be painful. But they all went in, and the doctors did what they need to do, and they got him better. And he’s wonderful today. It was painful for us. But we knew we had to go through that experience to be better. But I’m not going to blame the doctor to go through that for him, and cure him. The doctors are just as cut up about me, but the thing is, they’re professionals. They know what they’re doing. So, why am I here as a nation builder? When I talk about systemic racism in this country, I’m a bad guy, I’m un-Canadian, I’m ungrateful, I don’t deserve this card—but this card also tells me that I have a responsibility, and I have a duty to this country. And the duty that I have is to make it better. That’s it. And if I see something wrong, I’ve got to call it out, no matter how painful it is to the people listening. And it doesn’t matter how painful it is to me. And it doesn’t matter the consequences to me for making this country better. I’ve got to do it. And if it means bringing attention to myself to make things better and to bring attention to the cause, I’m going to do that, because it’s not about me.
You know, the Indigenous people on this land, they don’t believe that we’re born with privileges. They believe that we’re born with responsibilities. And if we adopt the attitude that we were born with responsibilities, we’re not going to walk around saying how rich we are, and how much we took from this country for ourselves. We’re going to ask, “What can I do? What responsibility do I have to make sure that what I have, I help others with it?” And we have to be unapologetic about that. Change is not easy. Change is hard. It’s tough. You’re going to get a lot of licks. But I always say, “In this world, I’m a Running Back.” What does a Running Back do—for those who watch football—the Running Back is the person that gets the ball, and they run with it. They run with the ball. But the opposing side’s job is to hit them as hard as they possibly can to dislodge the ball, to create a fumble. The Running Back knows this. So, every time he’s hit, what does he do? Get up right away. And sometimes you pat the defensive guy who hit him on the ass and say, “Good job, good hit.” But he springs up right away. But what he does as well, he builds the places that he needs to work the most, his legs. So, when he gets hit, he can stay up. The other thing that he does is he looks for holes in the defence, and exploits those holes. The holes that were created for me was 2020, when George Floyd was murdered. When I go, “I got to do something about this, there’s a hole.” Nobody was listening before that—as Don mentioned, nobody returned the email before that. You have to exploit the holes.
But the other thing that you also need, as a Running Back, to advance the ball, are blockers. People that you run behind, to advance you down the street, down the field. Those blockers are the allies that sign the BlackNorth Pledge, and go “In my organization, I am going to do something about this, and I’m going to change how things happen in this country.” Those are my blockers, and this country is better off for them. I didn’t get this far because I didn’t have blockers; I got a ton of blockers. And the interesting thing is that the people that got me here, none of them look like me. And that’s why I know Canada is great.
But we have a problem in this country. The wounds that we’re experiencing are self-inflicted. Nobody’s coming from outside and messing things up for us; we’re doing it to ourselves. “We don’t want these immigrants in this country. They’re taking our jobs, they’re taking our homes, they’re making it more expensive for us to live. So, let’s just block them, keep them out.” It’s all self-inflicted. You know, when I go to Italy—one of our favourite places to vacation—and I go to this town that we go to, my wife and I, they speak no English. And I have to, they say, “Where you’re from?” in Italian. I go, “Io sono Canadese di Toronto,” “I’m Canadian, from Toronto.” And they say, “Hey, Canadese! Si, Si.” If I say, “Io Americano,” they go “Ugh, Americano.” Why do people respond to us in that way? Because they’re fond of us. They think we’re great, we have an open border, we’re not xenophobic. They love us. We’re changing that because we’re emulating some people south of the border.
So, this unraveling of DEI, where did it come from, now? South of the border. And we’re embracing it here. Self-inflicted. We’ve got to let the rest of the world know that we’re leaders. We’re not followers. We don’t follow the United States. Remember, we used to say something happened in the States, and 10 years later comes to Canada. Now, it’s happening in a day, two days, overnight. We can’t follow those people—no offense; we have to set our own path.
So, Sal, you’re the man, first of all. The selection committee, thank you. But all my friends in the room, and all the people who I will be friends with later on, thank you for coming, and celebrating this amazing occasion with me. Thank you.
Sal Rabbani
Thank you very much. I now would like to invite to the stage Dahabo Ahmed-Omer, the Chief Executive Officer for the BlackNorth Initiative to join us. Dahabo, welcome. We look forward to a great chat.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer, Chief Executive Officer, BlackNorth Initiative
We’ve never done this together, so this is going to be good. So, first of all, Wes, can I get a selfie?
Wes Hall
Oh yeah, for sure.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Oh no, we’re doing it.
Wes Hall
Do it, man. Do it.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
You guys are going to get in the selfie, we’re going to get up. Just give us a second, come on. So, everyone, we’ll say “Congratulations, Wes.” One, two, three. [Audience together] “Congratulations, Wes.” So, I am excited to be here, because Wes and I have been working together now for almost four years.
Wes Hall
Yep.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
I’m going to ask you a few questions today. And the first couple of questions I’m going to ask you to answer with one word.
Wes Hall
M’hm (affirmative).
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Not three minutes. Who are you?
Wes Hall
Me.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
What does the future look like for you?
Wes Hall
Extremely bright.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Two words.
Wes Hall
Bright.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
What makes you hopeful?
Wes Hall
Julia Vassel—but that’s two words—my grandmother.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
What drives you?
Wes Hall
Seeing how far I’ve come, and how much more I can accomplish.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
And what do you think about at the end of the night, every night?
Wes Hall
I don’t deserve this.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
I knew he was going to make me cry—because we had dinner last night, and we talked about a few things. And one of the things that we talked about was this idea of being the exception to the rule. And Wes, you said to me last night that you shouldn’t be the exception to the rule. Tell me what you mean by that. What does it mean for you to represent so many of us, but not enough of us—because not enough of us are in where we need to be—what does it mean for you to be expected to deliver at a certain level at all times? What does it mean for you to ensure that you’re no longer the exception to the rule?
Wes Hall
Yeah, I think, you know, the reason why I have this picture of my grandmother and me in the tin shack—and people hear me say tin shack, and they’re old their eyes, but you know, watch a documentary on YouTube, you’ll see the tin shack—is, you know, can you imagine how hard she actually worked raising 10 grandkids and a special needs adult daughter in a two-bedroom shack, working on a plantation, and not being able to see what happened with any of those kids, what, you know, how did they live their life, what happened? But she didn’t really care about any of those things. She didn’t. She just wanted to make sure that we’re healthy, we’re fed, we’re somewhat educated—because she had no control over our education—and that we’re going to be okay. That’s all she wanted. So, the bar that she set was so low that every time I look at what I’ve accomplished, I keep on looking at that picture on my desk, and I go, “Wow, you know, I wish you were here to just kind of take a look at just emulating you, what it did for me, at least one of the kids.”
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
We’ve talked about our parents and grandparents a few times. And I’m going to take you back to three years ago, if you remember, I was driving, I was on the highway, I called you. And I was so tired, like emotionally, I was drained, physically, I couldn’t feel it anymore. I think people sometimes forget that those of us that do this kind of work are also Black, while fighting to be Black. And sometimes—and so, there’s this thing that happens. It’s like an out, like this out-of-body experience, almost. You’ve got to pretend for a moment to be something that you’re not, even though you know, that you’re Black. And I called Wes. And it was a total random call, but he picked up my phone call. And I was crying. And I think the biggest part of that conversation for me, in that moment, was I just need to talk to someone who understands this, and won’t see my tears as weakness. Tell me what you felt when I called you.
Wes Hall
Well, first of all, I remember the situation and why, you know. Like, yeah, it’s, when you’re in the struggle, and you’re experiencing systemic racism, nobody really understands it, you know? And I say to people that the more successful Black people in this country experience the most systemic racism, because they always find themselves in places that no other people like them have been. And so, they’re trailblazers, but they get the most licks. And so, when you took on that responsibility to deal with the issues on systemic racism, you weren’t just taking hits from other communities; you were taking hits from our community as well. “How dare you do this work? Who appointed you God? Who appointed you leader of our community?” And, you know, somebody has to understand what you’re going through, when you hear that. And you have to be reminded that you’re not doing it for you; you’re doing it for people who appreciate it. And even though the people who don’t appreciate it, say negative things, ultimately, deep down, they know that they’re benefiting. But critics are critics. They can’t help themselves. That’s their job. Destroyers are destroyers. They’re not builders. It takes a different skill to build than to destroy. And so, every now and then, when you’re down, you just have to be reminded of that.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
And at the end of the call, I felt fantastic, and my tears were gone. And Wes has always been like that. He’s been the kind of guy who’s straight to business, right? He’ll tell you, “Leave it with me.” Wes tells you, “Leave it with me,” that means “I got this, and you never have to talk to me about it again.” And I’ll take you back even further, now. I remember you calling me, this time around. And this is the first call that Wes made to me before everything started. And I have to tell you guys, the reason for the call was, I had gone through a very extensive recruitment process—and Walied, and others that are in the room will tell you how extensive this was—and he calls me, and he’s like, “Dahabo, you got a minute?” I said, “Yeah, of course. Of course I’ve got a minute. I’m waiting to hear if I’ve got the job.” But I thought I was going to hear, “You’ve got one more interview to do.” He tells me, “You know, we’ve met, and we think you’re great, you know, and we believe that you have the skill sets that we need, and you understand critical, you know, these issues around systemic racism, and you have the public service experience, and you’ve got all these things.” When someone starts off a conversation with all the fantastic things, you know, the shoe is about to drop on you.
I was at a doctor’s appointment, so I said to myself, “If he tells me I don’t have the job, I’m at a right place to faint, and we’ll be good.” Do you remember—because I have to say, there’s a dream come true moment, right? We’ve all had it at some point in our lives—and if you think back to your own lives, you’ll probably realize that—that there’s a moment where something shifts, and you realize your dream has come true. So, Wes was part of my dream come true. Do you remember what you said to me?
Wes Hall
Tell me.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Okay. For the very first time, I heard “We have selected you.” For the very first time, I heard “We believe you’re going to be able to do this.” For the very first time, I heard “You are the right person for this job.” For the very first time, someone believed in potential. And so, we’ve—you and I—have talked about this, the realities around Black people, unfortunately not being where they need to be, because opportunities have not been accessible to them. So, tell us a little bit about what does it mean for you to be the moment of a dream come true for so many. Because I’m just one of many. There’s so many people that you have turned the page for. So, what does that mean? What does that mean for you? How have you been able to be part of so many dreams?
Wes Hall
First of all, let’s go back to your interview. So, she went through the most rigorous interview of anyone, anywhere, okay? The first interview was with me; the second interview was with Victor Dodig, the COO of CIBC; the third interview was with Rola Dagher, this time the CEO of Cisco; the fourth interview was with Prem Watsa; the fifth interview was with Walied Soliman, okay? Most people would never be able to survive all those interviews, okay? Because these are also very diverse people that were running very different organizations. One was running a big bank, one was a major entrepreneur, one was running a law firm, you know, one was running a multinational company. And it was all, we all came back and “Okay, let’s compare notes.” And the note was, “Yeah, this is the person for the job.” And it wasn’t because, oh, she’s a Black woman, or she’s this or she’s that; it was just, she was just capable of getting the job, so she got the job.
So, but who’s better off for it, when we make the right decision in terms of hiring? The person who’s hiring. It’s not the candidate; it’s the person who’s hiring because they improve your business, they make your business better, and they put more money in your pocket, and they create success. So, why is it that we always look at it to say, “You’re so lucky I hired you”? You know. We’re lucky we hired you, because the organization is still going strong.
But, you know, I get people say to me, you know, “Wes, you have all these awards and all this, this, and all this, that.” And let’s say, for example, when Sal called me up and said, “Wes, we want you to be the Nation Builder. We want to nominate you to Nation Builder, and name you the Nation Builder.” I go, “You know, Sal, thank you very much. But no, I’ll take a pass.” You know, my first award was in 2009, when I received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award; I’m the first Black man to be in that position. And then, in 2014, I was the first Black person to make the cover for [indiscernible] Business. Let’s just assume I just, “EY, thank you very much; I’m passing. You know, first Black person on the cover? No, choose another Black person.” I don’t take these things for me; I take them to show the people coming up behind me what’s possible. And that’s why I mentioned up there that you’ve got to take some licks to do that. But it’s not about me. So, now a Black kid knows that I can actually build a company and get an award for it, I can actually make it the cover for a business magazine because of the success in building that company, oh, I can be a Nation Builder? Now everything is possible for all those kids behind me, because of those things.
And so, sometimes we have to unhumble ourselves. You know, Canadians, we’re just, we’re too humble. We’re humble people. We’re humble, humble. You know, we have to unhumble ourselves and say thank you every now and then, I appreciate this. Because it’s not about you. What I’m building today, right, I could go into my fancy house where I live, and I can sit on Bay Street. I’m going to be very comfortable with my life. But at the end of the day, that’s selfish. That’s selfish. I’m not putting myself out there. I’m too safe, you know? That’s selfish. But I have to know I have a responsibility bigger than most people in this country. Most. Because there’s people looking at me and go, “If he succeeds, that means that I can be successful too.” So, accepting these awards is showing those people that, yeah, you can do it too. And I can tell you, as Sal mentioned, there’ll be so many more people in this room and up there that’s going to be kicking the store down because they deserve it, and they’ve earned it.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
You’re going to have to explain to everybody what “licks” means, by the way.
Wes Hall
A Jamaican term, that, man.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
These are the moments I wish I was Jamaican—because I, I would love to be able to respond to that, but I’m going to need either Justice McLeod to come up here and do this. But, you know, I think a part of what you just said there is really, really important. And we’ve talked about this, you know, if ever you’ve seen Wes’s presentations in the past, there’s this one slide that you’ll always see, and it’s a slide that some may say is showing off, right? This idea of showing off. And then there’s others who would probably say, “That’s absolutely breathtaking.” And I’ll tell you the slide. He’s wearing this blue suit, full blue suit. And around his body are all the awards that he’s ever received, right? And I said this to you the other day, around the idea of being seen, of being recognized, the idea of being a part of something that is now in history, that’s been documented. I was looking at the pamphlet on our table and thinking, “Wes Hall’s name is on here. And right there, it says ‘Nation Builder.”
Wes Hall
That’s pretty cool.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
It is. But what I want you to reflect on, and maybe tell us what your reflections are is, what does it mean for you to continuously—because now you’re on a just, you’re just on a ridiculous roll—but what does it mean to continuously get recognized in that fashion? Because there was a time where no Black person would ever be recognized for anything, almost ever. But I think there’s a normalization. And I want you to speak to what does it mean for you to get so many awards, and continue to be honoured by them, but to continue getting them.
Wes Hall
It just means that Canada is changing, and it’s changing for the better. Just think about the selection committee here. I don’t know what the selection committee looks like, but Sal, are there any Black people on there? See, he’s got to think about it. So, the answer is no, okay? There’s, there’s one? Okay. Okay. Most of these awards were given to me when not a single Black person was in the room voting. Not a single—there’s nobody in there saying, “Wes needs to get this, a Black person needs to get this.” None of them. And so, what it means is that there are people now, now go, “Yeah, we need to do this, we need to change, we need to look at the diversity of this country, and make sure that when we’re giving accolades to people, that it represents that diversity.”
And again, we need to be gracious, when we get that phone call, to accept it and not to think of it as a burden. But we also have to be humble. You know, I’m glad that I was born poor. I’m so glad. Because when I walk into a room like this, I don’t think I’m the smartest person in it, I don’t think I’m the best; I think, I don’t deserve to be in here because of where I came from. And that type of humility kind of puts you in a position whereby you’re always learning and you’re always appreciating things, so nothing is ever too much, because you know what it means.
And so, no, I really appreciate those things. And to me, it’s, you know, I celebrate success stories no matter what the success story looks like, as long as the stories that are being told are diverse stories, because it tells everybody that they’re possible. It’s possible. But let’s take a look, think about this nation, for example. You know, in this country, 48 percent, 48 percent, of the women in the federal prison system are Indigenous women, 32 percent of the overall prisoners in the federal prison system are Indigenous people; they represent 5 percent of the population. As a nation, that’s a problem for us. We need to do something about that because it’s systemic. It’s systemic. So, when we see systemic problems, we just can’t retreat back and say, “I’m glad it’s not me.” Because a lot of the problems that we’re seeing in society today are caused as a result of us not paying attention to the problems that plaguing our society, and they get worse.
You know, when I work on shareholder activism and defend public companies, why do activists go after a company? Because they have a problem in the company that management failed to address, and it festers. And it attracts attention when it festers, just like a wound. And as a result of that, those activists show up because you failed to pay attention to that problem. That’s what happens in our country when we fail to pay attention to certain problems that are plaguing our society. It becomes a wound that festers, and it hurts everybody.
And so, I try to get as many people as possible to come along and say, “Let’s make this country of ours better.” And fortunately enough, I get enough voices that are listening to say, “Let’s do it, Wes.” So, that’s the privilege that I have. You know, I was given an opportunity years ago to come to this great country, and I’m grateful for it. And people tell me, you know, “If you don’t like it, go back to where you came from. Go back to Jamaica.” I’ve heard that in social media, heard that publicly. You know, my business last year did a few hundred million dollars. You know how much taxes I paid to the Jamaican government? Zero. I’m just as Canadian as the beaver.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
So, one of the things you just talked about was this idea of having a collective, when there’s a call to action. So, a couple of years ago, you started BlackNorth. What do you think about BlackNorth today? And look, I’m like, the CEO…
Wes Hall
No, I think….
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
…so, I’m excited to hear this.
Wes Hall
That, again, the negative DEI movement in the States, we haven’t really seen it in a big way here, but we’re hearing it. We’re hearing it. And I remember, when I was making those phone calls and talking to all those CEOs in 2020, everybody was passionate about changing. And just like anything, you know—see the thing about it is, Black people have seen this movie before, right? You know what a head fake is, when you’re playing basketball? It’s when you’re dribbling the basketball, and you go up, but you didn’t move, and the person jumps when you jump up, you got the foul, get a basket, right? It’s called a head fake moment for us, right? In the 60’s, we saw it with Martin Luther King Jr. And people say, “We have to change this, because you can’t treat Black people this way. “We saw it in the 70’s, we saw it in the 90’s with Rodney King when he got beaten, and people said, “You can’t treat Black people this way.” People go back to normal. And we see it in the 20’s. Every 30 years, we get this head fake moment—and here we are, 2020, we’re getting a head fake again. And so, shame on us if we fall for that head fake, and get the foul. Shame on us in the Black community. And it’s not about Black, White, or a race issue. It’s to say it’s just unfair to treat people this way. It’s just not fair. And we’re not calling it out because we want to [indiscernible] people; we’re just saying we’re better than that in this country. We are better than that. Because this country created me. So, I’m really proud of the work that so many leaders—you know, there’s 500 companies that signed a BlackNorth pledge. And of all the 500 companies, only one fell off the list. Only one. Okay? And so, I am very proud of what you’re doing, what the team at BlackNorth is doing, what our pledge signers are doing collectively within the organization. Not everybody’s running at the same page pace, but we’ve done so many great things in a very short period of time in this country, and we just got to keep the momentum going.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Yeah, and we talk about it all the time, this idea of keeping the momentum, keeping it relevant, because we don’t like, Wes said, we don’t need another George Floyd, right? We don’t need another moment like that. And so, this idea of being disciplined in the work—and I know your definition of discipline is waking up at four in the morning every morning. So, tell us, what does it mean for you to be a disciplined man?
Wes Hall
So, a smart man said, “Define discipline as such, doing something that you hate, and you’re doing it so well that it looks as if you love it.” You know who the smart man was?
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Wes Hall?
Wes Hall
Mike Tyson.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Oh, okay.
Wes Hall
Right? That’s how he defined discipline, doing something you hate so much, but everybody looking at you goes, “This guy loves it,” or “This person loves it.” And that’s what it is when you’re doing hard work like this. People think you love it, people think it’s great—and they should, because you want them to join you. If they see it look really hard, they don’t want to join you. So, you have to look, doing difficult work, doing so well at it, that people go, “Man, Wes loves this thing.” But no, I just want to encourage you to join me in doing this. And I don’t want you to see how hard it is until you’re actually in it, appreciate it, and go, “I got to stay.” So, that’s what it is. It’s hard work, but it’s great.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
I love that. So, I know I have—do I have a minute for another one more question?
Wes Hall
Sal wants to go home.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Sal’s, like, “We gotta go.” Any final words to everybody that’s in this room?
Wes Hall
Well, you know, I’m really glad to, again, for all of you to join me today, and celebrating this occasion—and Sal, and the selection committee, thank you very much for doing this. Listen, we have a great country here in Canada. I love it here. I look forward to coming home every time I vacation in different parts of the world. And my job is just like it is on my card. I have a responsibility and a duty to make sure that the way of life that we know and love, that it’s protected, as Canadians. So, thank you again for this honour. Appreciate it.
Dahabo Ahmed-Omer
Thank you.
Wes Hall
Thanks again, bud.
Note of Appreciation and Concluding Remarks by Sal Rabbani
Thank you. Thank you for your time and expertise, Dahabo, thank you to our special guest and award winner, Mr. Wes Hall, thanks again to our sponsors for their support, and everyone joining us today in person or online. I also want to recognize that we’ve got a representative in the audience from the 2020 Nation Builder of the Year Award, where we issued the award to Frontline Workers—a round of applause—we’ve got Marcia Brown, representing that group. Thank you.
I want to just say it’s truly an honour to have everyone here today to celebrate the spirit of Wes Hall, Canada, and also the spirit of Entrepreneurship. And in that spirit, I’m delighted to also present a special gift to one of our students, randomly selected, Sarari Candela. There’s a gift certificate from a local Canadian-owned restaurant that I’ll ask you to connect with our staff to pick up. As we gather to appreciate and have appreciated the achievements of our community, let’s continue to foster and sustain the entrepreneurial spirit that makes our Canadian businesses thrive.
As a club of record, all Empire Club of Canada events are available to watch and listen to on demand on our website. The recording of this event will be available shortly, and everyone who registered will receive an email with the link. Please enjoy this time to connect. Thank you very much. This meeting is now adjourned.
