When Mansoor Ladha came to Canada in 1973 with his wife
Anaar and two year old son, Hanif, he only had $1000 with which to make a
new start.

They were among thousands of people forced out of newly independent
east African countries for simply being what they were – African-born
but of Indian ancestry.

Within a few months of arrival in Canada, he resumed his career as a
journalist, taking a job as a copy editor with the Edmonton Journal.
Later on, he bought the Morinville Mirror and started the Redwater
Tribune. He sold the two papers in 2005 to Bowes Publishers after
celebrating the Morinville Mirror’s 25th anniversary and moving to
Calgary.

In Calgary, he worked for a year with June Warren Publishing,
publishers of oil and gas magazines and later on as a copy editor with
the Calgary Herald. In 2008, he published a book entitled, A Portrait In
Pluralism, a book about the Ismaili Muslims who have settled in Canada
following their expulsion from Uganda by dictator Idi Amin. He writes a
regular column on the editorial pages of the Calgary Herald and for the
Calgary senior newspaper.

Currently, Mansoor is working on a second book – his memoirs – about
his life in Africa. He was born and educated in Tanzania and got his
journalism diploma from Cardiff, Wales.

Please join me in welcoming Mansoor Ladha.