He was awarded the CM (Member of the Order of Canada) on November 18, 2016 and invested on May 10, 2018. His work was on behalf of refugees embodies the Canadian spirit of inclusion and generosity. He is Professor emeritus at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He helped catalyze Canadians to privately sponsor thousands of refugees from Southeast Asia when he founded Operation Lifeline in 1979 and later created the Centre for Refugee Studies in North America for forced migration studies. In addition, he is also recognized for his writings on the Rwandan genocide and other ethnic conflicts.
