Almost exactly 20 years ago this week, Sukhdev (Dave) Toor bought a small motel, 26 rooms in size, in St. Catharines, Ont.
He didn’t know it at the time, but it was the beginning of a climb to the penthouse of the hotel business.
Yesterday, Toor beamed as he held the groundbreaking for Mississauga’s — and probably Canada’s — first “green” hotel.
Mayor Hazel McCallion presided as ground was broken for the new 224-room Hilton Garden Inn on Caroga Dr. The picture above, by Fred Loek, shows Toor a few minutes after the ground-breaking standing in front of the Toronto Airport Hampton Inn and Suites, which is two doors away from where the new hotel will open about a year from now.
In her remarks, the mayor called Toor, “a shining example” of what immigrants can do for Canada.
His first hotel was the then-Howard Johnsons in Meadowvale which Toor bought in 1994. The Hampton Inn at Hurontario and Derry Rd. opened in 2000. The Hampton Inn at the QEW and Southdown Rd. (where he will also be building a future Residences by Marriott) opened in 2000, and the Toronto Airport Hampton in 2003.
The hotels in Mississauga account for about half of the $350 million portfolio of Manga Hotels, a business named for one of Toors’ residents forebears.
When the Hilton opens, Toor figures he will be providing about 500-600 jobs in the City and paying some $2 million a year in property taxes.
Not bad for a guy who quit Canada in 1984 in the midst of a recessios and went back to India because things were too tough here.
A civil engineer by training Toor happened to land in Canada when times were trying and jobs were scarce. Fortunately for Mississauga and Canada, things in India weren’t as rosy as Toor remembered, and he was back here within two months, eyeing the purchase of the motel.
Toor is a guarded man. In an interview the day before the groundbreaking, he basically put his remarkable success down to hard work and a passion for the business.
He got noticeably more animated a couple of times in our conversation.
Once was when he talked about his obviously-gifted children. His daughter Neelu, 23 born shortly after the family returned to Canada, got her BA from Cornell, her master’s from Stanford and is now taking international law at Oxford.
Daughter Avneet, 21, is at Queen’s studying law. Harleen, 18, is at McGill and she is aiming for medicine. The youngster still at home, 16-year-old Gouravjit has his eyes on Harvard.
Must be kind of like playing Monopoly for Toor. You put up another couple of hotels so you can pass GO and pay next year’s tuition.
The 48-year-old obviously still has a passion for politics. A former co-chair of the Ontario Liberal Party, Toor lost by 3,950 votes to Tory Raminder Gill in Bramalea-Gore-Malton-Springdale in 1999.
In 2003, he was the clear favourite to win the federal Liberal nomination in Mississauga-Brampton South until an unknown young man named Navdeep Bains came along. “I don’t like to lose,” says Toor through slightly-clenched teeth.
He would have been the second or third choice on a lot of ballots but “on E-Day we couldn’t deliver.” Bains got the majority he needed on the first ballot.
Asked if he is still interested in politics, Toor says, rather unconvincingly, that he isn’t at the moment. (The only openings for would-be Liberals in Mississauga seem to come when a member crosses the floor.)
He hesitates and says a second later, “but you should never say never.”
His work is not done yet but Toor is already considering succession planning for Manga Hotels and would like to slow down, maybe even retire in five or so years.
Don’t be surprised if there isn’t a political Toor of duty somewhere in his future.