A map of Lebanon hangs in Chief Fady Dagher’s office in the grey stone headquarters of Montreal's police force. It is a constant reminder of where he is from and the place he hopes to return to.
“For me, it helps me to stay connected to my roots and not to forget where I come from,” Mr Dagher said.
The 55-year-old Lebanese-Canadian officer, who moved to Canada when he was 17, is the first person from a minority background to lead Montreal police in the force's nearly 200-year history.
His appointment in January was the culmination of a lifetime of service to his adopted homeland.
“I always felt I had a debt to the Montreal community,” Mr Dagher told The National. “They welcomed me so well and it was a duty for me to serve them.”
Softly spoken with a slightly gravelly voice, Mr Dagher said that when he came to Canada in 1985 his original plan was to go to university and then return to Abidjan in the Ivory Coast, where his father ran a manufacturing company. But a chance encounter with a police officer drew him to a different life, despite strong opposition from his father.
“Oh my God, he lost it,” Mr Dagher recalled with a chuckle.
Not even an unplanned trip from his beloved father could dissuade Mr Dagher from pursuing a career in law enforcement.
“I didn’t see my father from 1985 to 1991 and he came right away to discourage me.”
While policing may not have held the same allure and status in Lebanon and Ivory Coast as it did in Canada, Mr Dagher has brought the values of both places to his role leading Montreal’s nearly 5,000 officers.
“In Lebanon and Africa, we really have the community spirit deep in us and in the police, if you don’t have the community spirit, you cannot be close to the community and you cannot find your resolve to apply the law,” he said.
Mr Dagher has championed a community approach that involves immersing officers in the neighbourhoods they patrol.
The police chief leads by example. Earlier this year, he spent five days living and sleeping at various Montreal homeless shelters to better understand the struggles faced by the city’s homeless population.
“There is no way you can lead without walking the talk,” Mr Dagher said.
At the heart of his approach to policing is a Lebanese ethos.
“I want to be able to be inside those houses, sit with them, cook with them, clean with them, eat with them and see what their stories are,” he said.
He is hoping he can help to transform a police force that is facing a severe shortage of personnel and a city grappling with a sharp rise in gun violence.
Mr Dagher estimated that the force is 20 per cent to 30 per cent short of the officers it needs. A huge part of his first few months on the job has been to go on a charm offensive trying to attract new recruits.
“That’s my first priority,” he said. “To be able to recruit and to keep the recruit is huge.”
He’s looking at immigrant communities and hoping his own career can help new Canadians see a potential future in the ranks of the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal.
Like many cities across North America, Montreal recorded a sharp increase in violent crime during the pandemic, a trend that continued in 2022.
Mr Dagher said the force was actively looking at ways to reverse that trend and was optimistic it would.
In terms of gun violence, “last year was the worst year that we went through”, he said, but noted that since he took over in January gun violence appears to be down, a trend he hopes will continue through to the end of the year.
Mr Dagher, who signed a seven-year contract, is determined to help recharge the department, but he dreams of having one more professional act after he retires.
“I am hoping that one day I will finish my career as ambassador of Canada in Lebanon, so I can go back to where I come from,” he said.
It would be the cherry on top of an exceptional life and allow Mr Dagher to spend time closer to his ancestral village of Bikfaya in the Mount Lebanon region.
Even while he is busy leading Canada’s second-largest police force, his mind and heart are never far from the small Mediterranean country that generations of Daghers have called home.
Throughout his busy career, he said, Lebanon has always held a restorative power.
“Every time I go back to Lebanon my heart beats better, again and again. My heart is in good health when I go to Lebanon because I feel welcomed,” he said.
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
'Downton Abbey: A New Era'
Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan
Rating: 4/5
Western Clubs Champions League:
- Friday, Sep 8 - Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Bahrain
- Friday, Sep 15 – Kandy v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
- Friday, Sep 22 – Kandy v Bahrain
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Teachers' pay - what you need to know
Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
- in Indian schools, it has also become common for teachers to share residential accommodation, living in a block with colleagues
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women & the Food That Tells Their Stories
Laura Shapiro
Fourth Estate
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Which honey takes your fancy?
Al Ghaf Honey
The Al Ghaf tree is a local desert tree which bears the harsh summers with drought and high temperatures. From the rich flowers, bees that pollinate this tree can produce delicious red colour honey in June and July each year
Sidr Honey
The Sidr tree is an evergreen tree with long and strong forked branches. The blossom from this tree is called Yabyab, which provides rich food for bees to produce honey in October and November. This honey is the most expensive, but tastiest
Samar Honey
The Samar tree trunk, leaves and blossom contains Barm which is the secret of healing. You can enjoy the best types of honey from this tree every year in May and June. It is an historical witness to the life of the Emirati nation which represents the harsh desert and mountain environments
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