Hon. Donna Dasko: Honourable senators, Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Toronto Mayor John Tory were there. His colleagues from the Toronto Star and the journalism community were there. His family and friends were there. Last Wednesday, 400 of his closest friends gathered together in downtown Toronto — of course — to honour and celebrate our friend, John Honderich, who passed away suddenly on February 5, 2022.

It was a party that John would have loved. Mayor Tory bestowed posthumously the Key to the City. Former Toronto Star managing editor Mary Deanne Shears talked about John’s days leading crusades both inside and outside the newsroom. Former city councillor Gord Cressy recalled growing up with John at Bedford Park Public School and how this child of privilege began at a young age to give back to his community.

John’s son Robin Honderich told stories of growing up with sister Emily, John’s devotion to his grandkids Sebastian and George and his love of grand gestures and storytelling.

John Honderich was the long-time editor and publisher of the Toronto Star, which is Canada’s largest daily newspaper with the largest readership in this country. He was devoted to excellent journalism and was willing to pay for it. He was a relentless advocate for social justice. He was a Toronto booster and a national city builder, and he left this country a much better place.

John began his career in 1973 as night copy boy at the Ottawa Citizen, delivering late-night food orders to reporters and editors. He joined the Toronto Star in 1976, going from an economics reporter to Ottawa bureau chief, to Washington bureau chief, and upward to editor-in-chief in 1988 and publisher in 1994. He left that job after a decade but returned as board chair until 2020, when Torstar was sold to new owners.

Under his leadership, the paper won countless awards — way too many to mention here — and several of these awards recognized the impact of journalism in creating positive change.

I remember an extensive series in the Toronto Star where they accessed Toronto police data and found that Black drivers were much more likely than White drivers to be ticketed by police, taken into police stations and held overnight. Many Torontonians were shocked by these findings of racial profiling, but others were shocked that the Star actually did this kind of journalism. This was in 2002 — 18 years before the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

John personally received countless awards, including the Order of Canada. What I will miss is his big smile and how much fun it was to hang out with him, talking and chatting about all matters, large and small. There should have been much more time. John, you left us too soon. Rest in peace.