Alumni Association of Lakehead University

Alumni Profile: Taher Fares

By Maureen Arges Nadin

For LU Business grad Taher Fares, the most profound advice he ever received was three simple words from his father: “give it time.”

He did and 26 years after arriving in Canada from his native Libya barely able to speak English and unprepared for the harsh climate, Taher is managing the Human Resources affairs for three regions of Spectra Energy  and is responsible for over 450 employees. It would seem that he has travelled light years through time from the earnest young man who arrived in Canada with a dream and an English dictionary that was his “Bible.”

Taher is currently the Human Resources Manager for Union Gas’s Northwestern Ontario District and Northeastern Ontario District as well as the Human Resources manager for the Maritime Northeast Pipelines out of Halifax (another spectra energy company), which means that he is responsible for taking care of business for employees from across Ontario and the Maritimes. He reflects back on the path that lead him to Canada and Thunder Bay with the kind of philosophical insight that comes from hindsight.

Born in Tunisia to a large family who moved to Libya when he was three years old, Taher grew up and completed his high school education in the capital city of Tripoli. Although he was always fascinated with aviation, he was unable to pursue the dream in Libya. He attended two years of post secondary education in Tripoli University in the agriculture program. But he remained resolute in his plan to one day become a pilot and when an advertisement appeared in the local paper looking for applicants for the Aviation program in Tripoli, it was beginning of the fulfillment of his dream, although not quite in the way that he expected. Through the Civil Aviation Department, Taher had to endure a lengthy process of applications, medicals and clearances from Canadian immigration before he was finally granted the opportunity to enter Canada as foreign student to pursue his childhood dream. 

Upon his arrival in Canada in 1981, Taher was a determined and hopeful 21 year old heading to Ottawa to enrol in an intensive English as a Second Language program, carefully arranged by the foreign students agency that he had registered with in Libya. He remained on the campus of Ottawa University at the ESL Centre for a year, immersing himself in the language of his new country. The first year was a challenge and Taher admits that he had drastically underestimated how cold that first winter would be. In addition to not being able to speak the language, he found himself frequently confined to home because he was unable to tolerate the cold. Which added up to not being a lot of fun for the young adventurer and during his next phone call home, he complained to his father and asked to come home.

“Give it time” his father told him as he gently declined the request. “Just like anything else in life, things get better with time.”

Taher chuckles when he observes that he is still not sure if his father was “trying to get rid of me” as he had 9 other children to deal with back in Libya or if he had full confidence in his ability to adjust. As it turns out, his father’s wisdom was accurate and kept him on the course that would change his life. 

In 1983, he registered for the Civil Aviation program at Confederation College and arrived in the city where he would ultimately settle and raise a family, although he didn’t know it at the time. It was while attending the College that he met the woman who would later become his wife and to whom he attributes his success. Lynda patiently helped him to practice and enhance his English and he progressed dramatically under her careful and consistent guidance. Love followed in due course and Lynda and Taher married in 1987, the year after he graduated from the College.

Taher was now a family man with different priorities and he quickly developed a pragmatic attitude about his prospects for the future. Although he worked for a brief period flying bush planes for the Ministry of Natural Resources, he realized that he was not going to have the time to log the hours that he required to qualify to be an airline pilot. A change in career direction was required and Taher was prepared to do whatever was required to get on the path to success. The Faculty of Business at Lakehead University was an attractive option as he astutely reasoned that his Aviation training combined with a Degree in Business might get him into an Aviation or Airport management position.

Taher attended Lakehead University part time and graduated with an Honours Degree in Business Administration in 1991. He enjoyed his experience at LU and recalls being quite impressed by the quality of teaching. “The teachers were excellent,” he says “ the diversity of backgrounds and skills was incredible.” And Taher was an eager student with a strong interest in learning as much as he could and by applying it wherever possible. During this period, he continued to hone his English language and people skills in his full time job as a retail sales clerk at Radio Shack, a position which he enjoyed immensely as it gave him an opportunity to interact with a variety of people on a regular basis. As it turns out, this would be an appropriate training ground. Taher didn’t know it at the time but his ultimate career would be not the airplane business, but the people business.

In 1991, Taher was the successful applicant for a temporary Records Clerk position in the City of Thunder Bay Human Resources Department. The position was a clerical position and maternity leave replacement but Taher jumped at the opportunity to work in a large organization and learn as much as he could in the front lines of an HR Department. This contract position was the beginning of an affiliation with the employer that he credits with a powerful professional and personal development experience as well as a fellowship with a team of employees who came to be “like family.”

This position lead to another temporary position as secretary/receptionist in the Health and Safety/Labour Relations section. Taher recalls that period with a grin and a sparkle in his eye. Not only did he enjoy the opportunity to gain a new perspective on the organization but he had no qualms about being in a traditionally female position or experiencing what others might perceive as a loss of status. 

“It was just a job title”, he reflects philosophically “ and another part of the journey.”

Taher applied and was successful for another opportunity as a job evaluation officer and he was given the chance to further showcase his skills.

His patience paid off and in 1993, he was once again a successful candidate, this time for a full time position as a Compensation and Benefits Consultant. He continued to progress within the Human Resources Department, ultimately achieving the position  of Human Resources Consultant, where he was responsible for all aspects of HR administration in assigned departments. This gave him a well rounded experience and exposure to some of the more challenging aspects of HR. It is here that he gained invaluable experience in not only how to deal with conflict and negative relationships but how to function in a stressful environment. It was with some degree of sadness that he left the City in 1998 to accept the position of Human Resources Coordinator with Union Gas but he knew that it was critical to his continued career development. The rest, as they say, is history and Taher’s intelligence, amiable personality and people skills continue to serve  him well in managing the Human Resources of Union Gas and Spectra Canada.

In his off time, Taher is the quintessential family man;  devoted husband to Lynda, the woman behind  his success, and doting father to Alexa, 19, Adam, 15 and Aminah 8. He remains grateful that he followed the advice of his father all those years ago when he was cold and lonely in Ottawa. He gave it time and never looked back and perhaps some day, he may give the same advice to his own children.

Taher relaxes by playing scrub soccer and reading philosophy. He offers up the following lines from the Rabbiate by Khayam when asked for a quote that reflects his personal  philosophy;

“ Ah, my beloved, come fill the cup that boost it to repeat. How time is slipping from underneath our feet.  Unborn tomorrow and dead yesterday.  Why worry about them, if today can be sweet? “