February 11, 2025 • 25 mins
EPISODE SEVEN – Legacy
“It’s a hundred and fifty dollars more than we had this morning.”
To close this season, we re-visit more hilarious and heartbreaking moments from the inaugural 2024 Pink Award, Canada’s LGBTQ+ advocacys and LGBTQ+ activist award ceremony celebrating queer icons making a difference. Daniel speaks with our first Legacy Award winner, philanthropist, activist, art collector, bon vivant, and First To Leave The Party author Salah Bachir. The importance of Salah’s work and his legacy is reframed in an animated conversation with Daniel and director/producer Michelle Mama, who holds Salah up as the ideal example of the late 1960’s New Canadian’s realization of the immigrant’s Canadian Dream.
Queer Joy is a seven part podcast celebrating the 2024 Pink Triangle Press Pink Awards.
The PTP Pink Awards are a national pay-it-forward celebration of queer excellence where community champions choose changemaking charities from the queer community to uplift and amplify. In 2024 we celebrated champions writer/actor/producer Elliot Page, musician/composer Jeremy Dutcher, activist Latoya Nugent, athlete Marie-Philip Poulin, musician/composer Rufus Wainwright and our legacy award winner philanthropist Salah Bachir. Join host Daniel MacIvor where he shares unforgettable moments from the awards and interviews where he sits down for honest and insightful conversations with our Champions and their chosen charities. Experience Queer Joy with Daniel MacIvor, some true queer Champions and our PTP Pink Awards with host Queen Priyanka
Pink Triangle Press formed in 1971 as a collective to publish The Body Politic – a monthly newspaper that is regarded today as a game-changer in the queer media landscape. And in 1984 as an offshoot of The Body Politic PTP formed Xtra Magazine, more focused on social life and culture, lighter fare, available free in bars. And when The Body Politic closed its operation in 1987 Xtra took over as PTP’s main publication mixing arts and culture coverage with harder news stories. There were print editions published out of Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa. In 2015 Xtra moved entirely online where it continues the legacy of the original publication with award-winning journalism that strives to be – as its banner proudly states – queering the conversation. Check them out at xtramagazine.com.
#podcast #awards #queer
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
0:00:05.3Daniel MacIvor, (00:00):
Hi, I'm Daniel MacIvor and this is Queer Joy,
celebrating the champions and changemakers of the 2024 PTP Pink Awards.
This episode, Legacy. The inaugural awards were held on November 7,
2024, at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto, hosted by drag race
(00:23):
royalty Queen Priyanka, with performances by brilliant queer artists including
Katie Tupper and as documented in episode six, a moment for the ages
rendition of Going to a Town by Rufus Wainwright and moving speeches by
community champions like Elliot Page and Jeremy Dutcher. It was a night
to remember, worthy of its own podcast even.
(00:45):
Here is PTP CEO David Walberg speaking at the awards.
We are very excited that we have as our guest tonight someone who
has stood with our community through celebration and devastation, through
thick and thin, better and worse, for decades. Since the 1980s,
she has marched with us, she has fought with us, danced with us
(01:08):
and has been the very definition of an ally. Please welcome now to
say a few words, Toronto's mayor, her worship, Olivia Chow.
What an honor to be here. I don't know. I'm lost for words.
(01:30):
I'm so excited to be here. In some ways, though, I felt,
Rufus, darkness. And it's time that when things are a bit dark and
when that debate is going on in Alberta, when you're feeling that things
are not going your way, that polarization, hatreds, that feeling of why
(01:53):
can't I be who I am? When you're feeling that things are hard,
think about history. Because, okay, there was always a feeling that if we
come together as a community, there is hope. There are so much talent
and love in this room. There's so much power in this room.
(02:13):
I see Salah here. I see all these really generous people.
It takes an ally like me that have been around for a long
time to tell you that there is hope. As long as there is
community, unity of purpose, then there is hope.
Thank you for allowing me to share this moment with you.
(02:34):
So celebrate. Have a great evening. Olivia Chow, everybody. Olivia, I love
you for always coming to Woody's, the gay bars, and having a drink
with the queens. Thank you. But here's my reminder to you to,
you know, maybe let's not bulldoze those gay bars for condos, okay? 0:03:02.6Daniel
MacIvor, (03:01):
As we've maintained all through this podcast, Queer Joy is made
up of equal parts heartbreak and protest. So Mayor Chow gets our heartbreak
and joy in, and Priyanka brings the protest. Thank you, Queen.
And something you may have missed in the mayor's comments. When she was
speaking about the talent and love and power in the room,
(03:22):
she said, I see Salah here. The Salah she speaks of is Salah
Bachir. Salah was there to receive the inaugural Legacy Award. When the
idea of the Legacy Award first came up, we talked about whether to
honor a celebrity or an activist or a bon vivant or a philanthropist
(03:42):
and finally decided that for our first Legacy Award, why not all of
the above and all in one person? Salah came from the business world.
He was the president of Cineplex Media and the publisher of Cineplex Magazine
and through that company co founded the Scene Awards Program. You may very
well own a little piece of Salah as one of the program's 11
(04:04):
million members. Most notably, though, Salah has been a foundational member
of the queer community since the 1980s. He has been an incredible patron
of the arts and collector. As a philanthropist, most visibly, he raised
the money to build the 2010 wing on the 519 Community Centre. 0:04:23.1Daniel
And recently he and his husband Jacob Yerex led a transformational
(04:27):
fundraising effort on behalf of Toronto St. Joseph Health Centre and the
newly renamed Bachir Yerex Community Renal Centre for dialysis patients.
Salah has been unstoppable, though in recent years, complications from a
kidney transplant and some serious mobility issues have forced him to step
back a bit. Though it hasn't hindered his promotional adventures in support
of his 2023 memoir, First to Leave the Party. Nor did it stop
(04:51):
him from attending the Pink Awards to receive his honor. Here's Salah's
speech. I'm overwhelmed. I'm thankful. I wish I could do a lot more.
Would like to do a lot more. Thank you very much for everything
and I'm so glad to be in such fabulous company.
(05:12):
Love you all. Thank you. David Walberg, thank you. Extra thank you.
Michelle Mama, I want to do my documentary now.
And when they go low, step on them. 0:05:33.3Daniel MacIvor, (05:24):
If you don't
know Michelle Mama, who Salah shouts out in his speech, you soon will.
She's an award winning producer, director and showrunner. And recently with
Bill Taylor, co founder of the most fabulously named production company
(05:45):
ever, Gay Agenda. I asked Michelle how she came to be implicated in
Salah's speech. So I am doing a documentary on the lesbian icon Carol
Pope and one of the people I interviewed for that documentary was Salah.
And when I was interviewing him I kind of said, you know what,
Salah, like you're like such a like Forrest Gump type character. You are
(06:10):
so interesting. And I just read his book and it's just juicy. If
you like name dropping, I thought Carol was a good name dropper but
my God. And he has a very interesting story. In some ways it's
the Canadian dream. An immigrant who came here with his parents when he
was 10 and made this and basically created an empire. You know,
(06:33):
created an empire. And then on top of that, which is,
I think the more important part, created a legacy of change. I was
a little snot nosed, 20 something, running around, going to parties on Church
Street and I would hear about these fancy galas that God knows I
could never afford to go to that Salah was throwing. And he was
(06:53):
this myth, this incredible human being who was not only a huge success,
I mean, this is how far we've come, Daniel. Somebody in the early
2000s being a CEO and a corporate titan and also being an out
gay man was still a big deal. It was such a big deal.
It was like, whoa, he runs Cineplex and he's gay. He's one of
(07:16):
us. It's like we had someone on the inside. That was the vibe.
We had an inside man in Salah Bachir. Very few people I think
these days understand, it's very easy to make money and fuck off.
You can be a selfish, greedy CEO who we see it all the
time, but Salah was predisposed to give back. I think that has to
(07:38):
do with his background. Speaking as a brown person, we're not the same
flavor of brown. He's Lebanese and I'm Zoroastrian Parsi. But there is something,
I think that you have to say. It has to come from his
family, his DNA, his background, the generosity of people in the Middle
East generally. It's that energy, that warmth that
he brings to everything that he does. And he's a lion. He's a
(08:02):
fierce, fierce supporter of people. And that spirit that he has,
I hope carries on to future generations. I hope that selflessness is an
inspiration to others. It is to me. He's an inspiration to me for
sure. 0:08:16.5Daniel MacIvor, (08:15):
Earlier I said that Salah came from the
business world, but that's not entirely true. I brought up with Michelle
a famous story about how Salah as a young teen in Rexdale,
Ontario, met the American labor activist and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez
when Chavez was in the area protesting for farmers rights. Salah had been
inspired to raise money for the cause, but only managed to put together
(08:38):
what Salah considered to be an unimpressive $150, 50 of it coming from
Salah's own father. When Salah apologetically presented Chavez with the
money, the activists praised the young Saleh, telling him, It's 150 more
than we had this morning. He was a kid, right? And that's a
formative moment to go, oh, I can make change. I mean,
(09:00):
I think you've identified like, kind of his hero origin story maybe right
there, that moment where he was like, oh, I'm just a little dude,
but I can affect change. 0:09:12.7Daniel MacIvor, (09:11):
Where does that impulse
come from? And maybe it's what you're talking about in terms of culturally,
it's something. I think it comes from being from elsewhere. I think it
comes from seeing, growing up in a part of the world where you
are elbow to elbow with struggle and with poverty and with strife in
(09:33):
countries that are in conflict, in war zones. And I think there's a,
there is an energy around the gratitude of
being in a new place and being accepted and being welcomed.
And even if it's not conscious, I think there is, a thing of
my life could have gone very differently. I could be there,
(09:54):
I could be going through that, and I'm here and I'm grateful. That's
the thing. When you live between two worlds, you're never... When you go
home, you're, he's never going to be Lebanese enough. When he's here,
he's never going to be Canadian enough. You live in the in between.
But it can also be a superpower. It kind of creates almost this international
(10:16):
passport energy, where he's the international James Bond wingman of all
time or something. He gets joy from watching other people flourish and thrive
and be in their element. And he's, another thing about people from the
Middle East, they love music, entertainment, parties. If only I could have
(10:41):
been at his dinner parties in the '80s, you know what I mean? He
just is, it's not a boring ass party with monoculture. He's gonna have
a rent boy, and he's gonna have Margaret Atwood, and he's gonna have
Elizabeth Taylor and he's gonna have some crazy leather dykes. And I know.
I've read the book, I know what his dinner parties were like.
And it's like, wow. And then you add the queer element to it.
(11:05):
So it wasn't just high, low in terms of class and strata.
It was also like, queer and straight, and that affects change.
That's the Trojan horse element of what Salah Bachir has done in his
life is introduce people from different worlds and demystify those people
to each other. And I think that is social lubrication of the finest,
(11:30):
finest order. You can't get better than that. They. They broke the mold
with Salah, frankly. And I think that sort of spirit,
it's the best, honestly, he's the best example for an immigrant story. Here's
this person with all of these qualities that are maybe not North American
who comes here and makes everything better for other people. I hope that
(11:55):
when Salah closes his eyes at night, he understands the impact he's made
and understands how the echoes of it and the ripples of it will
continue for generations. I will say this, and you can include it or
not, because it really upset me. At the end of that event,
he sort of said, oh, well, and I don't know if he said
this to you too, but he was a little, I don't know,
(12:16):
glum I guess is the word. And he said, nobody cares about me
anymore now that I don't have money and now that I don't have
status, or he said something very sort of dark like that to me,
and I was really, like, shook. Because you would hope that at the
end of this long, winding, beautiful, strange journey of his life,
that he would feel a sense of satisfaction looking back and going, yeah,
(12:42):
I did that. And I can rest, and I can be proud of
it. And I just really hope he does know. I hope that he
does realize his value and currency to people isn't what's in his bank
account or what arts on his wall or what gorgeous property he hosts
people in. It's in his heart and soul. It's who he is as
(13:03):
a human. We are all lucky to just be in his orbit again. What
you leave behind in the world and how you change and help people,
I think is the only thing that matters. Honestly. That's legacy.
That's the end of the day. All of these people who can look
to him and go, my life changed because of you.
(13:24):
That's it. That's a legacy. That's something to be so, so proud of. 0:13:29.5Daniel
MacIvor, (13:29):
When we come back, I talk to Salah. This is Queer Joy,
and I'm Daniel MacIvor. The 2024 PTP Pink Awards was made possible by
(13:52):
the generous support of our sponsors, and we are deeply Grateful for the
generosity of our title sponsor, DECIEM The Abnormal Beauty Company. Thanks
to Sarah Frumstein and the entire DECIEM team.
Salah has been my close friend for over 25 years. The first time
(14:16):
I met Salah, it was in his office. I was interviewing for a
job. I was not even 25. I was trying to impress Mr. Bachir and
the only thing that came out of my mouth was, I'm going to
introduce you to some people. That's cute, right? Salah introduced me to
like three mayors, including Olivia Chow, to a prime minister, to three
(14:36):
Governor General, to Elton John, and the list goes on. And I knew
the bartenders at Fly. We say that in the queer community,
we choose our own family. I chose Salah and it was an honor
to have Salah chose me as well. So, Salah, tonight, I thank you.
(14:59):
We thank you. And please keep doing the excellent work that you've been
doing for all these years. Merci. 0:15:06.4Daniel MacIvor, (15:03):
Welcome back
to Queer Joy. I'm Daniel MacIvor and that was Canada Media Fund's Vice
President of communications and Promotions, Mathieu Chantelois introducing
legacy award winner, Salah Bachir at the 2024 PTP Pink Awards.
And this is my conversation with Salah. 0:15:22.9Daniel MacIvor, (15:19):
Where
are you, Salah? Where are you currently at this moment? I'm in Paris, Ontario.
0:15:28.7Daniel MacIvor, (15:27):
Thanks for doing this. Thank you. 0:15:31.5Daniel
MacIvor, (15:31):
How did this all start? Can you talk a little bit about,
that's $150 more than we had this morning.
Yeah, that's stuck with me my whole life.
We were boycotting grapes outside in Rexdale, Rexdale Plaza, north suburb
of Toronto. And I didn't collect very much money and I was going
(15:56):
to go meet, see the Chavez that night. And
my dad, who's a union man, was a union man with the local
46, the welders and pipe fitters, and gave me $50 extra.
And then I was sheepishly, went up, said to him, I only collected
$150. But he explained that $150, how it would go, how would we
(16:18):
spend. And it's $150 more than we had this morning. 0:16:23.7Daniel MacIvor,:
How old were you at that time? 16 or 17. 0:16:28.7Daniel MacIvor, (16:23):
So
what motivated, what pushed you? What do you think? What was it?
I've never been one to ignore something and then
I'm not sure whether it's a tight knit village life that we had
or whether it was just something that's in you that
(16:45):
you need to do. As in some cases, you spend more money than
you have doing. 0:16:50.8Daniel MacIvor, (16:48):
You speak about this sort of general
idea of we want to do this. I don't know that people generally
want to do it. I think it's something very particular to you and
people like you. Yeah. I mean, I'm surprised as I look back. And there's
huge things that are done where money isn't raised and it's just spent
(17:09):
on an evening of cocktails and people doing stuff. And then no one
tells you where their money goes. So you can tell, we've raised $2
million, but the expenses behind it. And I think that that's important to
make sure that it gets to the people you're trying to get to.
It does what it has to do. 0:17:29.5Daniel MacIvor, (17:26):
If I were going
to identify, and you may disagree with this, but I feel if I
was going to give you, like three babies, I would say the 519,
artists generally and the Renal Clinic. Am I missing anything that's super
significant for you? AIDS, the AIDS Foundation, stuff in the Middle East.
(17:47):
We've done a lot in the Middle East. Also poverty and whatever an
area I'm in that I see, like, real need. I mean,
for me, the 519 does everything. Because the 519 used to have a
clothing exchange program, used to have a health bus years ago.
Used to be the Hassle Free Clinic, used to be out of there.
(18:08):
It is the hub, no matter what your politics are. Unless you're a
fascist, I suppose. The Renal Clinic in healthcare, you know, because of
my kidney transplants and stuff. I did a lot of my dialysis there.
And so little things that I would see that, you know,
when you're sitting on a bed for four hours and old TVs aren't
(18:28):
working and you need to get little things and a generator when there
was flooding in the area, when, you know, so you could keep going
on dialysis. We did a gala saying, don't dress up, don't go out.
Just give us money. And that worked. And many of those things were
minor things, but major in a lot of ways.
(18:50):
The art theme has become quite a bit very Canadian in a way. 0:18:55.4Daniel
MacIvor, (18:55):
It's stunning. What an amazing collection that you have. Thank
you. 0:19:00.6Daniel MacIvor, (19:00):
People like Kent Monkman, they're so important,
but also mostly queer people. Yeah. 0:19:05.7Daniel MacIvor, (19:02):
Do you remember
what your first purchase? Your first... I usually just bought art that friends
that needed money, I would buy art from and gift them or do
something like that. You support as much as people as you can and
become friends and you get involved in the process of getting to know
(19:26):
them and to introduce their art to other people. 0:19:30.0Daniel MacIvor,:
What are you proudest of? What am I proudest of? 0:19:39.0Daniel MacIvor,:
That you've accomplished, that you've done. This is where you're editing,
(19:50):
right? I'm proud that I was able to do what I did
wherever I could. It wasn't just having a lot of money,
writing a check, that I was an activist. I was on the streets,
I was involved. It isn't about buildings and things named after me and
(20:12):
that I was an activist all my life, in a way that when
I could walk and go to demonstrations and participate in all aspects.
And I'm proud that... I wish I could have done more.
I wish I could still do more. 0:20:30.0Daniel MacIvor, (20:25):
What's your advice
to the community in terms of how do we come together as a
united voice? People have to remember that 40 years ago you couldn't even
mention the word hate. We've come a long way, but we may have
(20:47):
stepped back a little bit. But it's still every cause to fight on
and learn from those generations, the Larry Kramers and the ACT UP.
And we are all part of a united front. We are all our
allies. And then you have to have a united front for a common
enemy. And then if you believe in community or in our community,
(21:10):
then you can't then take our community and keep slicing it into slices
of pie of community. I think the bigger picture, always keep your eye,
as I said, that united front. The youth who are looking at us
now, here in Paris, Ontario, there's drag nights, there's painted sidewalks.
(21:31):
It's so active. And that's what we need to support the people who
the Trump administration or whoever comes here, it's slowly taking away
rights while we're bickering. And so I think being vigilant, and they can
do their stuff but we can do a lot more of our stuff
to get our agenda around. And in the end, I think the majority
(21:53):
is on our side. That's why a united front is important. 0:21:57.6Daniel
MacIvor, (21:57):
It's the loud minority that seems to be taking all the oxygen,
though. We tend to be quiet. Right? And I guess we have to
get louder, maybe. Yeah, yeah. 0:22:07.2Daniel MacIvor, (22:05):
Anyway, I won't
keep you any longer, Salah. Thank you. That was great. And I'm going
to talk to Michelle about you next week. You talking to Michelle about
me? Why? 0:22:16.0Daniel MacIvor, (22:14):
Well, because you called out. You said
in your speech, at the end of the speech, you're like,
oh, wait, wait, Michelle Mama, I'm ready for my documentary. So I'm gonna...
I want to know. I want to hear about it. What was the
word I had read about you, that it was a word that I...
(22:34):
It was... Surprised me. Bashful. Bashful. I would never use that word to
describe you. But then when I heard it, I thought, oh,
yeah, maybe you are. You're shy in a way. Yeah. I think behind
all of that, you don't want to lose yourself in other things. 0:22:56.1Daniel
MacIvor, (22:55):
Yeah. Anyway. All right, we'll leave it at that. I'll,
hopefully we'll get to see you. Okay, great. 0:23:03.7Daniel MacIvor, (23:00):
Okay.
All right. Okay, thank you. Bye. 0:23:07.2Daniel MacIvor, (23:04):
Okay, bye. 0:23:10.0Daniel
MacIvor, (23:09):
I left that bit on at the end because I wanted you
to hear Salah's thank you. The sincerity of it, the smallness of it.
This is the paradox at the heart of this powerful, bashful man.
I don't think it's a new thing for Salah, but it feels more
present, more tender. And maybe this is something of what Michelle noted
(23:30):
as the glumness she felt in Salah after the Pink Awards ceremony.
I wonder if it's directly related to someone coming face to face with
the idea of their legacy. Because in fact, legacy is not something experienced
by the conductor of that legacy. It's only something that exists in its
effect. It's only really felt in the absence of the person to whom
(23:50):
the legacy belongs. No, not belongs. It belongs to those left behind,
really. It's another bit of heartbreak. But let's motivate that heartbreak
to inspire its siblings, protest and joy. Let's look forward into another
round of champions and changemakers and the PTP Pink Awards 2025.
(24:12):
But first, a thank you to those who made the inaugural year such
a success. Presenting sponsor DECIEM, award sponsor BMO and our tireless
leaders, Jennifer McGuire and CEO David Walberg, Gina Hara, Andrew Chang,
Mitchell Cheeseman, Lorilynn Barker, along with the whole PTP team, our
hosts, Shannon Burns and Queen Priyanka, and from Kelly Green Company,
(24:35):
the brilliant and unflappable Kelly Sudsbury and her fabulous wing person,
Susie Adelson. 0:24:40.8Daniel MacIvor, (24:39):
Queer Joy was written and narrated
by me, Daniel MacIvor, produced by Pink Triangle Press and edited and mixed
by Jamie Foulds at Soundpark Studios. And here's some joy to go out
on, I'm a Star, Priyanka's downloadable single and a reminder to all these
stars, and especially you, Salah. I'm Daniel MacIvor. Thanks for listening.
(25:04):
So get on up. You're no zero. You are strong, somebody's hero. You're the
one, keep it fun, never done, your story's just begun. Love me,
hate me, underestimate me. Pin me, break me, appreciate me. I can take
(25:27):
it off by the fall, baby, you will see.
Baby, I'm a star.
Hi, I'm Daniel MacIvor and this is Queer Joy,
celebrating the champions and changemakers of the 2024 PTP Pink Awards.
This episode, Legacy. The inaugural awards were held on November 7,
2024, at the Globe and Mail Centre in Toronto, hosted by drag race
(00:23):
royalty Queen Priyanka, with performances by brilliant queer artists including
Katie Tupper and as documented in episode six, a moment for the ages
rendition of Going to a Town by Rufus Wainwright and moving speeches by
community champions like Elliot Page and Jeremy Dutcher. It was a night
to remember, worthy of its own podcast even.
(00:45):
Here is PTP CEO David Walberg speaking at the awards.
We are very excited that we have as our guest tonight someone who
has stood with our community through celebration and devastation, through
thick and thin, better and worse, for decades. Since the 1980s,
she has marched with us, she has fought with us, danced with us
(01:08):
and has been the very definition of an ally. Please welcome now to
say a few words, Toronto's mayor, her worship, Olivia Chow.
What an honor to be here. I don't know. I'm lost for words.
(01:30):
I'm so excited to be here. In some ways, though, I felt,
Rufus, darkness. And it's time that when things are a bit dark and
when that debate is going on in Alberta, when you're feeling that things
are not going your way, that polarization, hatreds, that feeling of why
(01:53):
can't I be who I am? When you're feeling that things are hard,
think about history. Because, okay, there was always a feeling that if we
come together as a community, there is hope. There are so much talent
and love in this room. There's so much power in this room.
(02:13):
I see Salah here. I see all these really generous people.
It takes an ally like me that have been around for a long
time to tell you that there is hope. As long as there is
community, unity of purpose, then there is hope.
Thank you for allowing me to share this moment with you.
(02:34):
So celebrate. Have a great evening. Olivia Chow, everybody. Olivia, I love
you for always coming to Woody's, the gay bars, and having a drink
with the queens. Thank you. But here's my reminder to you to,
you know, maybe let's not bulldoze those gay bars for condos, okay? 0:03:02.6Daniel
MacIvor, (03:01):
As we've maintained all through this podcast, Queer Joy is made
up of equal parts heartbreak and protest. So Mayor Chow gets our heartbreak
and joy in, and Priyanka brings the protest. Thank you, Queen.
And something you may have missed in the mayor's comments. When she was
speaking about the talent and love and power in the room,
(03:22):
she said, I see Salah here. The Salah she speaks of is Salah
Bachir. Salah was there to receive the inaugural Legacy Award. When the
idea of the Legacy Award first came up, we talked about whether to
honor a celebrity or an activist or a bon vivant or a philanthropist
(03:42):
and finally decided that for our first Legacy Award, why not all of
the above and all in one person? Salah came from the business world.
He was the president of Cineplex Media and the publisher of Cineplex Magazine
and through that company co founded the Scene Awards Program. You may very
well own a little piece of Salah as one of the program's 11
(04:04):
million members. Most notably, though, Salah has been a foundational member
of the queer community since the 1980s. He has been an incredible patron
of the arts and collector. As a philanthropist, most visibly, he raised
the money to build the 2010 wing on the 519 Community Centre. 0:04:23.1Daniel
And recently he and his husband Jacob Yerex led a transformational
(04:27):
fundraising effort on behalf of Toronto St. Joseph Health Centre and the
newly renamed Bachir Yerex Community Renal Centre for dialysis patients.
Salah has been unstoppable, though in recent years, complications from a
kidney transplant and some serious mobility issues have forced him to step
back a bit. Though it hasn't hindered his promotional adventures in support
of his 2023 memoir, First to Leave the Party. Nor did it stop
(04:51):
him from attending the Pink Awards to receive his honor. Here's Salah's
speech. I'm overwhelmed. I'm thankful. I wish I could do a lot more.
Would like to do a lot more. Thank you very much for everything
and I'm so glad to be in such fabulous company.
(05:12):
Love you all. Thank you. David Walberg, thank you. Extra thank you.
Michelle Mama, I want to do my documentary now.
And when they go low, step on them. 0:05:33.3Daniel MacIvor, (05:24):
If you don't
know Michelle Mama, who Salah shouts out in his speech, you soon will.
She's an award winning producer, director and showrunner. And recently with
Bill Taylor, co founder of the most fabulously named production company
(05:45):
ever, Gay Agenda. I asked Michelle how she came to be implicated in
Salah's speech. So I am doing a documentary on the lesbian icon Carol
Pope and one of the people I interviewed for that documentary was Salah.
And when I was interviewing him I kind of said, you know what,
Salah, like you're like such a like Forrest Gump type character. You are
(06:10):
so interesting. And I just read his book and it's just juicy. If
you like name dropping, I thought Carol was a good name dropper but
my God. And he has a very interesting story. In some ways it's
the Canadian dream. An immigrant who came here with his parents when he
was 10 and made this and basically created an empire. You know,
(06:33):
created an empire. And then on top of that, which is,
I think the more important part, created a legacy of change. I was
a little snot nosed, 20 something, running around, going to parties on Church
Street and I would hear about these fancy galas that God knows I
could never afford to go to that Salah was throwing. And he was
(06:53):
this myth, this incredible human being who was not only a huge success,
I mean, this is how far we've come, Daniel. Somebody in the early
2000s being a CEO and a corporate titan and also being an out
gay man was still a big deal. It was such a big deal.
It was like, whoa, he runs Cineplex and he's gay. He's one of
(07:16):
us. It's like we had someone on the inside. That was the vibe.
We had an inside man in Salah Bachir. Very few people I think
these days understand, it's very easy to make money and fuck off.
You can be a selfish, greedy CEO who we see it all the
time, but Salah was predisposed to give back. I think that has to
(07:38):
do with his background. Speaking as a brown person, we're not the same
flavor of brown. He's Lebanese and I'm Zoroastrian Parsi. But there is something,
I think that you have to say. It has to come from his
family, his DNA, his background, the generosity of people in the Middle
East generally. It's that energy, that warmth that
he brings to everything that he does. And he's a lion. He's a
(08:02):
fierce, fierce supporter of people. And that spirit that he has,
I hope carries on to future generations. I hope that selflessness is an
inspiration to others. It is to me. He's an inspiration to me for
sure. 0:08:16.5Daniel MacIvor, (08:15):
Earlier I said that Salah came from the
business world, but that's not entirely true. I brought up with Michelle
a famous story about how Salah as a young teen in Rexdale,
Ontario, met the American labor activist and civil rights leader Cesar Chavez
when Chavez was in the area protesting for farmers rights. Salah had been
inspired to raise money for the cause, but only managed to put together
(08:38):
what Salah considered to be an unimpressive $150, 50 of it coming from
Salah's own father. When Salah apologetically presented Chavez with the
money, the activists praised the young Saleh, telling him, It's 150 more
than we had this morning. He was a kid, right? And that's a
formative moment to go, oh, I can make change. I mean,
(09:00):
I think you've identified like, kind of his hero origin story maybe right
there, that moment where he was like, oh, I'm just a little dude,
but I can affect change. 0:09:12.7Daniel MacIvor, (09:11):
Where does that impulse
come from? And maybe it's what you're talking about in terms of culturally,
it's something. I think it comes from being from elsewhere. I think it
comes from seeing, growing up in a part of the world where you
are elbow to elbow with struggle and with poverty and with strife in
(09:33):
countries that are in conflict, in war zones. And I think there's a,
there is an energy around the gratitude of
being in a new place and being accepted and being welcomed.
And even if it's not conscious, I think there is, a thing of
my life could have gone very differently. I could be there,
(09:54):
I could be going through that, and I'm here and I'm grateful. That's
the thing. When you live between two worlds, you're never... When you go
home, you're, he's never going to be Lebanese enough. When he's here,
he's never going to be Canadian enough. You live in the in between.
But it can also be a superpower. It kind of creates almost this international
(10:16):
passport energy, where he's the international James Bond wingman of all
time or something. He gets joy from watching other people flourish and thrive
and be in their element. And he's, another thing about people from the
Middle East, they love music, entertainment, parties. If only I could have
(10:41):
been at his dinner parties in the '80s, you know what I mean? He
just is, it's not a boring ass party with monoculture. He's gonna have
a rent boy, and he's gonna have Margaret Atwood, and he's gonna have
Elizabeth Taylor and he's gonna have some crazy leather dykes. And I know.
I've read the book, I know what his dinner parties were like.
And it's like, wow. And then you add the queer element to it.
(11:05):
So it wasn't just high, low in terms of class and strata.
It was also like, queer and straight, and that affects change.
That's the Trojan horse element of what Salah Bachir has done in his
life is introduce people from different worlds and demystify those people
to each other. And I think that is social lubrication of the finest,
(11:30):
finest order. You can't get better than that. They. They broke the mold
with Salah, frankly. And I think that sort of spirit,
it's the best, honestly, he's the best example for an immigrant story. Here's
this person with all of these qualities that are maybe not North American
who comes here and makes everything better for other people. I hope that
(11:55):
when Salah closes his eyes at night, he understands the impact he's made
and understands how the echoes of it and the ripples of it will
continue for generations. I will say this, and you can include it or
not, because it really upset me. At the end of that event,
he sort of said, oh, well, and I don't know if he said
this to you too, but he was a little, I don't know,
(12:16):
glum I guess is the word. And he said, nobody cares about me
anymore now that I don't have money and now that I don't have
status, or he said something very sort of dark like that to me,
and I was really, like, shook. Because you would hope that at the
end of this long, winding, beautiful, strange journey of his life,
that he would feel a sense of satisfaction looking back and going, yeah,
(12:42):
I did that. And I can rest, and I can be proud of
it. And I just really hope he does know. I hope that he
does realize his value and currency to people isn't what's in his bank
account or what arts on his wall or what gorgeous property he hosts
people in. It's in his heart and soul. It's who he is as
(13:03):
a human. We are all lucky to just be in his orbit again. What
you leave behind in the world and how you change and help people,
I think is the only thing that matters. Honestly. That's legacy.
That's the end of the day. All of these people who can look
to him and go, my life changed because of you.
(13:24):
That's it. That's a legacy. That's something to be so, so proud of. 0:13:29.5Daniel
MacIvor, (13:29):
When we come back, I talk to Salah. This is Queer Joy,
and I'm Daniel MacIvor. The 2024 PTP Pink Awards was made possible by
(13:52):
the generous support of our sponsors, and we are deeply Grateful for the
generosity of our title sponsor, DECIEM The Abnormal Beauty Company. Thanks
to Sarah Frumstein and the entire DECIEM team.
Salah has been my close friend for over 25 years. The first time
(14:16):
I met Salah, it was in his office. I was interviewing for a
job. I was not even 25. I was trying to impress Mr. Bachir and
the only thing that came out of my mouth was, I'm going to
introduce you to some people. That's cute, right? Salah introduced me to
like three mayors, including Olivia Chow, to a prime minister, to three
(14:36):
Governor General, to Elton John, and the list goes on. And I knew
the bartenders at Fly. We say that in the queer community,
we choose our own family. I chose Salah and it was an honor
to have Salah chose me as well. So, Salah, tonight, I thank you.
(14:59):
We thank you. And please keep doing the excellent work that you've been
doing for all these years. Merci. 0:15:06.4Daniel MacIvor, (15:03):
Welcome back
to Queer Joy. I'm Daniel MacIvor and that was Canada Media Fund's Vice
President of communications and Promotions, Mathieu Chantelois introducing
legacy award winner, Salah Bachir at the 2024 PTP Pink Awards.
And this is my conversation with Salah. 0:15:22.9Daniel MacIvor, (15:19):
Where
are you, Salah? Where are you currently at this moment? I'm in Paris, Ontario.
0:15:28.7Daniel MacIvor, (15:27):
Thanks for doing this. Thank you. 0:15:31.5Daniel
MacIvor, (15:31):
How did this all start? Can you talk a little bit about,
that's $150 more than we had this morning.
Yeah, that's stuck with me my whole life.
We were boycotting grapes outside in Rexdale, Rexdale Plaza, north suburb
of Toronto. And I didn't collect very much money and I was going
(15:56):
to go meet, see the Chavez that night. And
my dad, who's a union man, was a union man with the local
46, the welders and pipe fitters, and gave me $50 extra.
And then I was sheepishly, went up, said to him, I only collected
$150. But he explained that $150, how it would go, how would we
(16:18):
spend. And it's $150 more than we had this morning. 0:16:23.7Daniel MacIvor,:
How old were you at that time? 16 or 17. 0:16:28.7Daniel MacIvor, (16:23):
So
what motivated, what pushed you? What do you think? What was it?
I've never been one to ignore something and then
I'm not sure whether it's a tight knit village life that we had
or whether it was just something that's in you that
(16:45):
you need to do. As in some cases, you spend more money than
you have doing. 0:16:50.8Daniel MacIvor, (16:48):
You speak about this sort of general
idea of we want to do this. I don't know that people generally
want to do it. I think it's something very particular to you and
people like you. Yeah. I mean, I'm surprised as I look back. And there's
huge things that are done where money isn't raised and it's just spent
(17:09):
on an evening of cocktails and people doing stuff. And then no one
tells you where their money goes. So you can tell, we've raised $2
million, but the expenses behind it. And I think that that's important to
make sure that it gets to the people you're trying to get to.
It does what it has to do. 0:17:29.5Daniel MacIvor, (17:26):
If I were going
to identify, and you may disagree with this, but I feel if I
was going to give you, like three babies, I would say the 519,
artists generally and the Renal Clinic. Am I missing anything that's super
significant for you? AIDS, the AIDS Foundation, stuff in the Middle East.
(17:47):
We've done a lot in the Middle East. Also poverty and whatever an
area I'm in that I see, like, real need. I mean,
for me, the 519 does everything. Because the 519 used to have a
clothing exchange program, used to have a health bus years ago.
Used to be the Hassle Free Clinic, used to be out of there.
(18:08):
It is the hub, no matter what your politics are. Unless you're a
fascist, I suppose. The Renal Clinic in healthcare, you know, because of
my kidney transplants and stuff. I did a lot of my dialysis there.
And so little things that I would see that, you know,
when you're sitting on a bed for four hours and old TVs aren't
(18:28):
working and you need to get little things and a generator when there
was flooding in the area, when, you know, so you could keep going
on dialysis. We did a gala saying, don't dress up, don't go out.
Just give us money. And that worked. And many of those things were
minor things, but major in a lot of ways.
(18:50):
The art theme has become quite a bit very Canadian in a way. 0:18:55.4Daniel
MacIvor, (18:55):
It's stunning. What an amazing collection that you have. Thank
you. 0:19:00.6Daniel MacIvor, (19:00):
People like Kent Monkman, they're so important,
but also mostly queer people. Yeah. 0:19:05.7Daniel MacIvor, (19:02):
Do you remember
what your first purchase? Your first... I usually just bought art that friends
that needed money, I would buy art from and gift them or do
something like that. You support as much as people as you can and
become friends and you get involved in the process of getting to know
(19:26):
them and to introduce their art to other people. 0:19:30.0Daniel MacIvor,:
What are you proudest of? What am I proudest of? 0:19:39.0Daniel MacIvor,:
That you've accomplished, that you've done. This is where you're editing,
(19:50):
right? I'm proud that I was able to do what I did
wherever I could. It wasn't just having a lot of money,
writing a check, that I was an activist. I was on the streets,
I was involved. It isn't about buildings and things named after me and
(20:12):
that I was an activist all my life, in a way that when
I could walk and go to demonstrations and participate in all aspects.
And I'm proud that... I wish I could have done more.
I wish I could still do more. 0:20:30.0Daniel MacIvor, (20:25):
What's your advice
to the community in terms of how do we come together as a
united voice? People have to remember that 40 years ago you couldn't even
mention the word hate. We've come a long way, but we may have
(20:47):
stepped back a little bit. But it's still every cause to fight on
and learn from those generations, the Larry Kramers and the ACT UP.
And we are all part of a united front. We are all our
allies. And then you have to have a united front for a common
enemy. And then if you believe in community or in our community,
(21:10):
then you can't then take our community and keep slicing it into slices
of pie of community. I think the bigger picture, always keep your eye,
as I said, that united front. The youth who are looking at us
now, here in Paris, Ontario, there's drag nights, there's painted sidewalks.
(21:31):
It's so active. And that's what we need to support the people who
the Trump administration or whoever comes here, it's slowly taking away
rights while we're bickering. And so I think being vigilant, and they can
do their stuff but we can do a lot more of our stuff
to get our agenda around. And in the end, I think the majority
(21:53):
is on our side. That's why a united front is important. 0:21:57.6Daniel
MacIvor, (21:57):
It's the loud minority that seems to be taking all the oxygen,
though. We tend to be quiet. Right? And I guess we have to
get louder, maybe. Yeah, yeah. 0:22:07.2Daniel MacIvor, (22:05):
Anyway, I won't
keep you any longer, Salah. Thank you. That was great. And I'm going
to talk to Michelle about you next week. You talking to Michelle about
me? Why? 0:22:16.0Daniel MacIvor, (22:14):
Well, because you called out. You said
in your speech, at the end of the speech, you're like,
oh, wait, wait, Michelle Mama, I'm ready for my documentary. So I'm gonna...
I want to know. I want to hear about it. What was the
word I had read about you, that it was a word that I...
(22:34):
It was... Surprised me. Bashful. Bashful. I would never use that word to
describe you. But then when I heard it, I thought, oh,
yeah, maybe you are. You're shy in a way. Yeah. I think behind
all of that, you don't want to lose yourself in other things. 0:22:56.1Daniel
MacIvor, (22:55):
Yeah. Anyway. All right, we'll leave it at that. I'll,
hopefully we'll get to see you. Okay, great. 0:23:03.7Daniel MacIvor, (23:00):
Okay.
All right. Okay, thank you. Bye. 0:23:07.2Daniel MacIvor, (23:04):
Okay, bye. 0:23:10.0Daniel
MacIvor, (23:09):
I left that bit on at the end because I wanted you
to hear Salah's thank you. The sincerity of it, the smallness of it.
This is the paradox at the heart of this powerful, bashful man.
I don't think it's a new thing for Salah, but it feels more
present, more tender. And maybe this is something of what Michelle noted
(23:30):
as the glumness she felt in Salah after the Pink Awards ceremony.
I wonder if it's directly related to someone coming face to face with
the idea of their legacy. Because in fact, legacy is not something experienced
by the conductor of that legacy. It's only something that exists in its
effect. It's only really felt in the absence of the person to whom
(23:50):
the legacy belongs. No, not belongs. It belongs to those left behind,
really. It's another bit of heartbreak. But let's motivate that heartbreak
to inspire its siblings, protest and joy. Let's look forward into another
round of champions and changemakers and the PTP Pink Awards 2025.
(24:12):
But first, a thank you to those who made the inaugural year such
a success. Presenting sponsor DECIEM, award sponsor BMO and our tireless
leaders, Jennifer McGuire and CEO David Walberg, Gina Hara, Andrew Chang,
Mitchell Cheeseman, Lorilynn Barker, along with the whole PTP team, our
hosts, Shannon Burns and Queen Priyanka, and from Kelly Green Company,
(24:35):
the brilliant and unflappable Kelly Sudsbury and her fabulous wing person,
Susie Adelson. 0:24:40.8Daniel MacIvor, (24:39):
Queer Joy was written and narrated
by me, Daniel MacIvor, produced by Pink Triangle Press and edited and mixed
by Jamie Foulds at Soundpark Studios. And here's some joy to go out
on, I'm a Star, Priyanka's downloadable single and a reminder to all these
stars, and especially you, Salah. I'm Daniel MacIvor. Thanks for listening.
(25:04):
So get on up. You're no zero. You are strong, somebody's hero. You're the
one, keep it fun, never done, your story's just begun. Love me,
hate me, underestimate me. Pin me, break me, appreciate me. I can take
(25:27):
it off by the fall, baby, you will see.
Baby, I'm a star.
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