After the tragedy of 9/11, a sign suddenly appeared on a suburban Edmonton lawn that read: “Osama bin Laden lives closer than you think.” The sign pointed to Dany Assaf’s house. Dany was born in Edmonton, where he played hockey and dreamed of the NHL, a life familiar to any Canadian kid. Yet suddenly, despite generations of family history in Alberta, he and his family were branded as Muslim terrorists: the “other” to be feared and shunned.

Dany, now a top Bay Street competition lawyer who travels the globe representing Canadian interests, examines how we got to this point — from idolizing Darryl Sittler as a boy to dealing with the threats of white supremacists to the joy of his son Mohamad carrying the Canadian flag to midfield at the 100th Anniversary of the Grey Cup. Moving through the disturbing politics of hate to the uplifting message of togetherness, this is an untold Canadian story of four generations of a Muslim family and their journey through an increasingly fragile multicultural society. It is also a blueprint for hope that seeks to reclaim the soul and spirit of what has made Canada unique.