Diplomats, politicians attend George Saad’s annual Ramadan event
Premier Jean Charest calls organizer an ‘ambassador for peace’
Published August 25 , 2010
By Martin C. Barry • NEWSFIRST

Quebec Premier Jean Charest declared Montreal Egyptian community leader George Saad an “ambassador for peace” during a traditional Ramadan “iftar” held at the Salle Paradis in Chomedey last Sunday evening. It was not the first time Charest was the featured guest at the annual inter-religious event Saad, who is Christian, has organized with his wife Mary over the past 27 years during the Islamic holy month.
Ramadan event
An iftar is a traditional evening meal that is served when Muslims break their day-long fast during the month-long Ramadan. One of the many observances that take place during Ramadan, iftars are often organized as community meals after Maghrib, which is the time of sunset. While Ramadan takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, the calendar is based on a lunar sequence and therefore the date varies in the western 12-month calendar.
“I have had the privilege of attending this event for a number of years,” Charest said, “and it’s always been an honour and a privilege to be at his side and to be with a man who, interestingly enough — and I think this is symbolic of Quebec — has a Christian thought that the Ramadan of the Muslims was a call to him, not just a call to Muslims, but a call to all those who believe in peace.”
Saad a familiar face
Saad’s face is a familiar one among Montrealers of virtually all origins. As the host of the Voice of Egypt for the past quarter-century, he has been a constant presence on the city’s multicultural television and radio stations, conducting interviews and reporting news of particular interest to the Egyptian community. Saad also publishes an Egyptian-language community newspaper and owns a travel agency.
Having come to Canada in 1964, he established extensive connections as a liaison between Muslims, Christians and Jews, as well as in the political and diplomatic spheres. Among the hundreds of guests at the Ramadan meal last Sunday were three Quebec cabinet ministers, Montreal’s mayor Gérald Tremblay, St-Laurent Borough Mayor Alan DeSousa, and up to a dozen ambassadors, consuls and other diplomats from Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Palestine, Irak and the U.S.A. Laval city councillor Ginette Bernier-Legault attended on behalf of Mayor Gilles Vaillancourt who was ill and unable to be there.
A special Ramadan
“Many people ask why a Christian would celebrate Ramadan,” Saad told his guests. “Because I believe in what I say. I could have been happy doing it just once. But (after) 27 years, excuse me, it should be a belief. Quebec, where we live, has taught us to love each other, taught us to integrate and where we came from. I have here (people from) almost 20 different countries that immigrated to Quebec. And we all love Canada, we all love Quebec, we all love each other, and all the religions are here. Christians, Muslims, Jews. I love them all, and this is Canada.”
Noting that Charest has often said that Quebec needs the arms, hearts and minds of people from other parts of the world to contribute to the province’s economic and social development, newly-appointed Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities Kathleen Weil said she was “so delighted to be able to dedicate my arms, my heart and my brain to this wonderful mission. With this in mind on this Ramadan evening, it would be essential that all Quebecers without regard for their origins should have the opportunity to form a mutual appreciation of one another, with better knowledge of one another, as well as respect and understanding.”
Statement from PM
Agop Evereklian, a liaison in Laval with the Conservative Party, read a statement sent by federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, I would like to extend my sincere solidarity to all Muslim Canadians who are observing the holy month of Ramadan,” he said. The prime minister and Kenney also congratulated Saad and his wife for organizing their iftar for nearly three decades.