www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 30, 2015 | 6
Spotlight
“Connected to your Community”
Max Khan had a huge smile and a love of life
by Nathan Howes
In return for the example he set,
the joy he spread and all the good
he achieved, we owe it to him to
remember the kind words he left us
with: ‘Educate ourselves and set an
example of kindness.’ All that is left is
to go forth and live the life that Max
showed us how to live.”
Special to the Beaver
The late Max Khan will be remembered as a
good leader, a good Canadian and a good human being.
Those were some of the words chosen by
Max’s father, Mahmood Khan, and colleagues to
depict the Town councillor at a public memorial
held Friday at Oakville Town Hall.
It was organized by World Islamic Mission
(WIM) Canada, with Dr. Mansoor Khan, Max’s
brother, as the host.
The Atrium was filled to capacity as residents,
councillors and dignitaries gathered to honour
Khan, a father and Bay Street trial lawyer, who
died suddenly in March at the age of 46.
“He was a good human being. If somebody
is not a human being, he cannot be a good Canadian, cannot be a good person. He has to be
a good human being. He was thinking about
other people,” said Mahmood. “As you can see,
many people are loving him, had been looking
after his interests and helping him out.”
Mahmood said he prays to “give me patience,
give me courage” to forget Max’s work and what
he has done for the family, but it’s not possible.
“I cannot forget. I humbly request all of you,
please pray for him for his place in heaven. He
has done what he was supposed to do. Only one
regret I have, that what he wanted to do, he did
not accomplish his mission,” said Mahmood.
Max was an Oakville resident for more than
25 years Khan was known for his work on council, in the community and as a federal riding Liberal Party candidate, he was the candidate in the
new Oakville-North Burlington riding.
He demonstrated Islam’s message of peace
through his actions, Mahmood said.
“If one person can bring that many people together, if we all work together, we can change
this world. I hope we will keep on doing that
and his spirit will be happy if we accomplish
something,” said Mahmood.
Mayor Rob Burton presented Mahmood with
the Community Award of Excellence in recognition of Max’s service and dedication.
Burton said Max was a great champion of the
people, who can “live on in us, if we will only
learn from him and follow him.”
He called the late Town councillor a great civic
leader and a life leader.
“In return for the example he set, the joy he
spread and all the good he achieved, we owe it to
him to remember the kind words he left us with:
‘Educate ourselves and set an example of kind-
Volume 53 | Number 34
5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington (905) 845-3824
Mayor Rob Burton
Oakville
Ward 5 Town Councillor Marc Grant:
“What I’m going to carry with me is the reminder that Max was always that kind of person who would make you feel like you had to
do something better, you had to be kind to be
better. There are times when I want to kind of
remember Max in my own way, and maybe it’s
something all of us can do, is every day find a
few people, make them smile and ask them to
pay that forward.”
Mahmood Khan, left, father of the late Max Khan who was a Ward 6 councillor and Liberal Party candidate for the
Oakville-North Burlington riding, accepts a Community Award of Excellence in recognition of his son’s service and
dedication from Oakville Mayor Rob Burton at a memorial service Friday at Town Hall.
| photo by Eric Riehl – Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog)
ness.’ All that is left is to go forth and live the life
that Max showed us how to live,” said Burton.
Khan had battled leukemia several times in
his life and left council for nearly four months
as he fought a relapse of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He then returned to his council post in
February 2012.
Ontario Labour Minister and Oakville MPP
Kevin Flynn said the impact Max had on the
community is “something that I underestimated.”
“I didn’t know how many people knew that
one gentleman, who was simply known by the
name Max. You said Max and you instantly
knew who it is,” said Flynn.
When you meet someone like that, “you realize the breadth of Max’s influence on the community was something most of us could only
wish to have,” Flynn said.
The Oakville MPP noted he met Max regularly to have political conversations at formal or
informal places such as coffee shops.
He never had “one cross word with Max in
my entire life,” the labour minister said.
“There were things we didn’t always agree on,
but when it was time to sit down and discuss our
own political futures or the political futures of
others, I knew that Max and I would approach
it in a way that I simply can’t do with other people,” said Flynn.
Town councillors also shared their recollections of Max and the impact he had on them and
the community.
Ward 2 Town Councillor Pam Damoff:
“I’ve had the great honour to be his team
captain in the Terry Fox Run for the last three
years. Max would show up, grab me off my feet
and put me in his arms and we would get a picture taken. He had such a zest for life and such
a way with people…I don’t think there’s ever
been anyone like him before and I don’t think
there will ever be anyone like him again.”
Ward 6 Town/Regional Councillor Tom Adams:
“Many times I have said that Ward 6, (which)
we represented together, is like the United Nations. It includes people from all over the world,
from all different kinds of religious backgrounds.
Max worked equally hard for every one of them.
He represented them with pride and he represented them to get them the best deal that he
could get on whatever it may have been. He certainly stood up for the little guy.”
Ward 4 Regional Councillor Allan Elgar:
“He was truly a guy that cared for anybody,
but himself. It was never about Max. If you really listened to him, he never said how he was
doing. He would always ask how you were doing. If there was a job that needed to be done,
anything outside of council, Max was one of the
first ones to be there. It was admirable to watch a
man with the gusto he had.”
Ward 2 Town/Regional Councillor Cathy Duddeck:
“One of the most cherished gifts Max shared
with us was his positive outlook on life. He
loved life and it showed whenever he entered
a room with that huge smile and the bounce in
his step. We could all learn from his outlook on
life — cherish each day, treat your fellow man
and woman with respect, and above all, enjoy
yourself.”
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