THUNDER BAY – Zaher Toubaji plans to spend Canada Day just like thousands of other Thunder Bay residents – watching the fireworks and festivities at Marina Park.
Just two short years ago he’d have never dreamed it possible.
A Syrian refugee seeking a new, safe home far from the war-torn Middle East for his wife and daughters, Canada was always top of his list.
Sixteen months ago that dream became a reality.
Ten months later, he and his family opened a donair restaurant on St. Paul Street in the city’s north end, where he plans to spend much of Saturday cooking, before closing up shop in the evening and joining the masses on Thunder Bay’s waterfront.
“Canada is everything to me because Canada did something for me Syria didn’t do,” Toubaji said on Friday through the assistance of a translator.
“Canada is now my brain, my heart, my everything.”
In anticipation of the Canada Day weekend, Toubaji has decorated his restaurant with half-a-dozen Canadian flags in support of his new home country, a reminder of his family’s difficult journey out of Syria.
He’s excited to spend Saturday with fellow Canadians.
“If the weather is nice I’m going to the marina and share it with everybody,” he said, wishing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and local Liberal MP Patty Hajdu, along with everyone in the city, a happy Canada Day.
“If they want to dance, I will dance. If they want me to sing, I will sing with them. If they want to play, I will play with them. It’s hard to describe the feelings I have for Canada’s 150th birthday. It’s special.”
