Top Canada honour for India-born prof who lost wife, daughters in Kanishka attack

India-born Professor Mahesh Chandra Sharma, who lost four family members in the Kanishka tragedy in 1985, was among 83 people who were given the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours in the country.

Among the 329 lives lost in what is still considered the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history were Professor Mahesh Chandra Sharma’s wife, two daughters, and mother-in-law.

Governor General Mary Simon announced the latest Order of Canada appointments, featuring a diverse group that includes physicians, diplomats, athletes, and writers.

Another Indian-Canadian, Saroj Saigal, Professor Emerita at McMaster University in Hamilton, was also named for the honour.

The Order of Canada is the cornerstone of the Canadian Honours System. Since its creation in 1967, more than 8,200 people from all sectors of society have been appointed to the Order. The honour is one of Canada's highest honours. It recognises people across all sectors of society who have made extraordinary and sustained contributions to Canada.

New members of the Order will be invited to a ceremony at a later date to be invested and to receive their insignia. The dates of these ceremonies will be announced in due course, according to the Governor's office.

WHO IS MAHESH SHARMA?

"Mahesh Sharma is a civic-minded philanthropist and leader. A beloved professor and mentor at Concordia University, he established scholarships to honour the memory of his family who were victims of Air India Flight 182", the Governor General of Canada's office said in a statement issued on Monday.

Sharma immigrated to Canada from India in 1966. He is now teaching supply chain and business technology management at Concordia University in Montreal.

After earning a Masters of Mechanical Engineering (specialising in aerodynamics) at McGill, Sharma went to work for a multinational engineering company. But it was not long before his appetite for learning drew him back to McGill.

He returned to the School for Continuing Studies to take evening classes for a Diploma in Management, which he earned in 1974.

Two years later, he completed his MBA at the Desautels Faculty of Management – with support from a Quebec Senior Administration Fellowship, according to McGill University.

By the 1980s, Sharma had risen to the position of Chief Engineer at his firm.

Shortly after losing his family in the Kanishka tragedy, Sharma decided to leave industry and take on a full-time teaching position at Concordia, where he had been lecturing since 1975, according to the McGill University report.

WHO IS SAROJ SAIGAL?

"Professor Saigal has helped shape the field of neonatology. She is internationally renowned as the first researcher to examine the lives of extremely premature infants from a qualitative perspective and is praised for this humanistic approach", the Governor General of Canada's office said in a statement issued on Monday.

She has shifted attitudes towards preterm infants and increased our understanding of their long-term outcomes, it added.

Saigal earned her medical degree and completed paediatric training in India. She later received advanced qualifications in India (MD in Paediatrics), a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC), and the Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP).

Saigal has served as a Professor of Paediatrics since 1984 and now holds the title of Professor Emerita at McMaster University.

Saigal is internationally recognised for her studies that focus on the quality of life and consequences of having been born extremely prematurely, and she has published extensively on the same, according to the University of Texas Southwestern.

She is the Founder of 'Adults born Preterm Collaboration' (APIC), a network that facilitates collaboration and sharing of data with investigators interested in the long-term health and disease of this vulnerable population.

She has been involved as a collaborator in several perinatal clinical trials, the university added.

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