Author: Dany H. Assaf, Co-Chair Competition and Foreign Investment Group Torys LLP, Co-Founder, 'Fast in the 6'.
It was over a family dinner in in 2016 watching divisive rhetoric grow and sharpen over social media and during election cycles, that my wife Lisa and I thought we had to do something – anything – to resist what we saw as the false logic of many political leaders.
Worldwide, we had observed the rise of “populist” movements and wondered how much they could take hold. Populism on any end of the political spectrum can be dangerous. The simplicity of the message is good at capturing raw emotions, but ultimately just reflections of false prophethood that don’t offer real solutions to real problems. It also leads to political sectarianism that excludes rather than unites when we all know we are always stronger together, especially in these uncertain times. Like many, Lisa and I stood wondering what this century will bring for our children. And how we might resist.
How about having everyone over for dinner?
By everyone, we meant all of Toronto. A public dinner with neighbours of every creed, color, and faith. A reminder of the strength and power of unity that comes from enjoying our differences. Of course, our backyard wasn’t big enough to host the whole city, so we asked Mayor John Tory at the time if we could host it on the enormous Nathan Phillips Square, at Toronto’s City Hall. Mayor Tory quickly and enthusiastically jumped on board. This free dinner, open to the public and staged at city hall, would be our form of resistance.
But we also needed something to share and celebrate. We decided to share an experience special to Muslims. Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, was coming up and it seemed like the perfect occasion.
The act of fasting is common to many faiths and cultures, so we felt the sharing of a meal and inviting others to celebrate a breaking of the fast would be a way to enjoy our differences within a familiar tradition. It was designed to be a “multi-faith” celebration, in the spirit of the Santa Claus parades put on each Christmas in cities across North America.
Lisa and I came up with the name Fast in the 6 because of local Toronto superstar Drake, who uses the “6” handle for Toronto (derived from the area code 416) in his chart-topping songs. We shared the name Fast in the 6 with others and they loved it.
Lisa and I believed this would be an event about making people feel a certain way, and that it could only be pulled off by people who themselves felt that way. So those involved were a reflection of the message. For the event’s motto we chose the words Diversity. Unity. Prosperity. It expressed what we were feeling and captured a forward-looking narrative.
Lisa and I are both lawyers and had no event planning experience so we were starting from scratch. It was lucky we didn’t know what we were getting into. If we had realized how much work it would take, we may not have done it. But we are blessed with a wonderful network of friends from every background, race, and religion, and they helped us to make it happen.
We decided that the best way to get people to attend would be to hold a free, public event that would include a meal, entertainment, and a fireworks display.
At the time, a friend and actor and now Canada’s Consul General in Los Angeles, Zaib Shaikh, was the city’s film commissioner and director of entertainment industries. In his role of Imam Amaar in the hit series Little Mosque on the Prairie, he had played a major part in bringing audiences world-wide a connection to their Muslim neighbours. He understood the potential of this event and he, and his accomplished wife Kirstine Stewart, helped get us started.
Once we finally had all the necessary approvals. Now we needed money. The network of community leaders I’d met in my years on Bay Street was helpful. I sat down with a long list of friends to tell them what we were planning. Each of these people immediately understood and supported the values represented by Fast in the 6 and signed on to help. The final list of corporate supporters for that first event included TD Bank, Maple Lodge Farms, Oxford Properties, Sobeys, RBC, Air Canada, and my firm, Torys LLP. It was Maple Lodge Farms and Sobeys that generously supplied the food to the thousands who came to that first event to share in the breaking of the fast. At sunset we broke the fast together with thousands of Torontonians of every background, and a children’s choir sang O Canada accompanied by a Toronto Symphony Orchestra ensemble.
For entertainment, we lined up a varied slate that included the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, star comedian Mo Amer, chart-topping female Muslim musical artist Yuna, and the then up and coming Mustafa the Poet. We wanted the entertainment to be as diverse as the audience.
We ended the night with a massive fireworks display set off from the roof of City Hall. It went high into the night sky, set to beautiful music, and could be seen from far away. Lisa and I had spent hours listening to pieces of orchestral music to try and find the right movements to capture the feelings we wanted people to leave with at the end of the night.
What a night it was, so beautiful and so warm and embracing of all who came and enjoyed.
In the days that followed we heard from people who had attended. Tourists from around the world remarked that they hadn’t experienced a similar event on such a scale, people of different backgrounds enjoying an evening like that together with nothing more being asked of them.
In the years since, people continue to come to Fast in the 6 and now we even hold a small version in Los Angeles at Canada House hosted by Zaib Shaikh, which reminds us we were are not the only ones who want to resist division and because we are always stronger together. We realized the real joy in what we were doing was not leading anything but rather tapping into something. We were grateful to have given it a platform.
Humanity has collectively written, experienced, and sacrificed too much to go back to where we started, local tribes, brawn over brains, fear over hope. The times demand we both embrace our tribal instinct for survival but also recognize that humanity is now our tribe. It is the best means of survival in this uncertain modern age.
For more information on Fast in the 6, please visit the website at http://www.fastinthe6.com/ and @fastinthe6 on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Dany Assaf is the author of two books, 'Say Please and Thank You & Stand in Line: One Man's Story of What Makes Canada Special and How to Keep it That Way' and 'Everybody's Business: How to Ensure Canadian Prosperity through the Twenty-First Century'.