Bob Dhillon, Barabara Stymiest and Vahan Kololian- Even with something as innocuous as the Order of Canada, I can stir up controversy.
The objective of becoming the world’s first Sikh billionaire was stated as Bob Dhillon’s objective while he was pursuing his MBA at Western, so he will need to update his LinkedIn profile to reflect this.
He details all of his accomplishments on that page, including everything from establishing a scholarship worth $10,000 at Lakehead University to donating $10 million to the University of Lethbridge, where he is honoured with the naming of the business school there. However, the list has not been modified to reflect his newly acquired status as an Officer in the Order of Canada as of today.
This is because the update has not yet been implemented. Bob Dhillon, also known as Navjeet Dhillon, is a real estate magnate based in Calgary. He is the founder of Mainstreet Equity, which is listed on the TSX. The value of Bob’s share of Mainstreet is greater than $500 million.
In addition to that, he has a variety of other interests, including the development of an island that is 3,000 acres in size in Belize. Therefore, it is safe to say that he has accomplished something that comes close to meeting his self-proclaimed life goal.
Mainstreet is an amazing story of patient and intelligent real estate compounding; in the 22 years that it has been public, it has accumulated a total of 47 times its initial investment. Bob Dhillon is not only an excellent allocator but also a first-rate steward of the money that belongs to other people.
He owns close to half of the business, has almost no record of ever having issued shares, and parlayed a modest real estate portfolio into an empire with assets worth more than two billion dollars.
Read this recent article written by an investor in Toronto named Jay Vasantharajah if you want to get a fantastic overview of Mainstreet as an investment opportunity. There is no better place to look than Bob Dhillon’s LinkedIn profile if you are interested in learning more about the incredible journey that Bob Dhillon has been on.
Former Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Stock Exchange Barbara Stymiest has been made a Member of the Order of Canada (a lesser grade than Officer). Same for Vahan Kololian.
In addition to being the current Chair of Aventine Investment Counsel, Vahan was one of the original founders and a former President of Polar Asset Management, which is the largest hedge fund in Canada. Because of his marriage, he is now a member of the Bentley family in Vancouver (of Canfor fame).
Morris Goodman, the founder of Pharmascience and the father of Jonathan Goodman, who founded Paladin Labs, and Jean Houde, the Chairman of National Bank, are the other two new members that are relevant to Bay Street. Jonathan Goodman founded Paladin Labs.
The fact that the Order of Canada has different ranks is something that not many people are aware of. His promotion to the rank of Officer places Bob Dhillon in the next-to-highest tier. The others that I’ve named are just Members, which is the lowest tier, and there are currently more than 2,000 people who are members. They are allowed to append “CM” to the end of their names.
Companions are the highest tiers, and Officers are the only ones who are allowed to use OC (CC). Each of the three classes receives a white enamel snowflake brooch, but Companions additionally receive a nose ring.
I just recently became aware of these distinctions, and as a result, I must say that my opinion of some of you has changed as a result.
In any case, giving people titles like “companions” and “officers” is a terrible way to brand them. People are given the titles of knights and commanders of the empire according to the British honours system. After doing some research into the matter, I came to the conclusion that the Order of Canada doesn’t make any sense. Companions is the highest-ranking group, and its members include Margaret Atwood and Boutros Boutros-Ghalli. Err, hello?
There’s a good chance that Margaret Atwood isn’t even worth $50 million, and BBG isn’t even from Canada. Although Peter C. Newman is a Companion, it is common knowledge that I am a far superior writer, and in addition, my eyebrows are much bushier. On the other hand, Bruce Flatt does not even have the Order of Ontario.
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Controversial- Order of Canada recipients include Bob Dhillon, Barbara Stymiest, and Vahan Kololian
