In the South Building of University of Toronto, Mississauga campus, I met with one of the most inspiring South Asian educators. Most recently he has been appointed vice president and principal of the University of Toronto at Mississauga. I am referring to none other than Mr. Hargurdeep (Deep) Saini.
Although critics note that the senior hierarchal positions in Canadian institutions are not reflective of the diversity of the Canadian society, Mr. Saini still feels that Canada has made great strides with regard to its multiculturalism and acceptance of other people. He remembers how during his first week in Canada in 1982, at the University of Alberta campus, he and his wife heard comments like; “Asians go home!” Such instances are, of course, rare and much more unacceptable in public.
Saini has been affiliated with the top learning institutions in both Australia and Canada. He has been Dean for the Faculty of Environment and Resource Studies at Waterloo University for several years.
He was also part of the team that made the decision to change the watermark for University of Waterloo, a mistake he does not necessarily regret, but an err he has learned from.
Saini stresses that now more than ever is the time to invest in green energy. He suggests that we look at green energy solutions that are both renewable and sustainable such as geothermal, wind, solar, hydro. He is happy that the environment has become a ‘hot’ topic of discussion amongst young people. Saini is pleased that environmental departments in universities are getting larger and that there are increasingly more opportunities for jobs and co-op placements in this field for students to make their passions into careers
Saini is fascinated with how Canadian universities can stand shoulder to shoulder with top universities around the world despite their youth and relatively low funding and grants.
Saini is fond of Dalton McGuinty’s dedication to educational institutions in Ontario. Although there has been much uproar about the hiking tuition fees, Saini wants to remind students that tuition fees are significantly lower in the Canadian universities than other top notch institutions around the world. He also stresses that there is definitely a limit to how high tuition can be charged—depending on the government and the market- “we cannot make tuitions so high that we discourage good students from coming to the university” Saini asserts.
After completing his masters from Punjab Agricultural University, Hargurdeep (Deep) Saini had to make one of the biggest decisions in his life. He had just landed a job offer in India, and he had also received admission to pursue his Ph.D with one of the most accomplished scientists in Australia. With the job offering him more money than he would probably make in twenty years time, he asked his father for advice. Saini says that his father was a very thoughtful man, who immediately left home, came back half an hour later with an envelope in his hand. In the envelope were 10,000 rupees which was the price of a ticket to Australia at that time. His father said; “you will always have a job, but you will never have the opportunity to learn more and an opportunity to broaden your horizons”.
With all of the success that has come his way, Saini often finds himself taking a look back to reflect. He thinks back to a time in India during the sixth grade where all of the students in his class would sit on rugs instead of chairs. And now having one of the most senior positions in one of the top research institutions in the world, Saini is more than thankful for all of the opportunities that his life has given him.
Does that make him a religious man? Saini says that he is proud of his Sikh heritage, although he would consider himself more of a spiritual person. “My religion is humanity.”
Saini is proud of the hard work and ambition that has formed the South Asian presence in Canada. He encourages South Asians to hold on as resolutely to their present as much as they hold on so determinedly to their past.
He feels that Canada is taking part in a fascinating social experiment of multiculturalism, and that the University of Toronto at Mississauga is a microcosm of that diversity. He is proud of the way that the university has grown in the past ten years, and is eager for all of the growth that will take place through the expanding the social sciences and humanities department, medicine faculty alongside the general growth of space and university facilities.
Saini is looking forward to coming to Mississauga where he will be running the university. He feels that the context is so special in terms of the growth, the frustrations and the realizations of the student body.
He is excited and ready for it all.
Author: Asma Amanat


































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