Honourable senators, I rise today during Asian Heritage Month to speak to you today from Mikmaqi, Nova Scotia, home for a half century to my dear friend, gentle guide and professional mentor, the late Eric Amit.

Eric Amit was my predecessor as director of the Coady International Institute at St. Francis Xavier University. He was an intelligent, well-educated man with credentials from the University of Ceylon, Carleton University, with an Oxford University fellowship and an honorary doctorate from StFX.

In 1971, the year before Ceylon became a republic and changed its name to Sri Lanka, Eric Amit’s arrival at the Coady Institute signalled an important shift within the institute as it recognized and embraced experiences from the global south.

Born in 1929 into a highly stratified social order in colonial Colombo, into an interracial, intercultural and inter-religious family, with an English mother and a Malaysian father, who died soon after his birth, Eric understood adversity from a young age. Fortunately, his keen intelligence was recognized. Higher education and his marriage to his university sweetheart Amy became his tickets to a better life and a senior career in the Ceylonese civil service. Eric served as district commissioner, assistant secretary in the ministries of housing, fisheries, trade and commerce, and as land commissioner. Eric Amit directed the World Council of Churches’ relief and rehabilitation program in post-war Bangladesh.

This vast work experience, complementing his academic credentials and his core integrity, is what prepared Eric so well for his leadership role at Coady. Working in the area of participatory rural planning and development, Eric inspired and influenced many of the more than 9,000 Coady graduates coming from civil society organizations, cooperatives and all levels of government in 130 countries around the world. He was recognized by the United Nations Association as a Global Citizen in 1995.

Eric was brilliant professional, but he was much more than a capable administrator and teacher. Eric Amit was a man with a mission. The central question driving Eric’s work was, “What will it mean for the poor?”

Dr. Amit had great respect for his students and their experiences. Coady graduate Dr. Keerthi Bollineni, of India, said, “He walked with us.”

Eric and his late wife Amy created a beautiful family — children Minoli, Hilary, Udeni and the late Iromi; grandchildren Alistair, Claire, David, Julia, Daniel, Rene and Dominique; and great-grandchildren Alec and Eva.

Honourable senators, Eric Amit left an enduring mark on his family, on our community and our world. May he rest in peace.