Canadians know Tareq Hadhad, founder and CEO of confectionary company Peace by Chocolate, for his incredible story: Once a displaced Syrian refugee, Hadhad and his family settled in Antigonish, N.S., in 2016, where he founded the chocolate business.

Peace by Chocolate continued the Hadhad family's longstanding tradition of chocolate-making, reviving a dream dashed when their factory in Syria was bombed during the country's civil war, forcing the family to flee — first to Lebanon, and eventually to Canada.

Thanks to its inspiring backstory and philanthropic approach, Peace by Chocolate became a word-of-mouth success with orders across Canada and two storefronts in Antigonish and Halifax. In 2020, Hadhad won a National Entrepreneurship Award and was one of the recipients of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards.

He also is the subject of a nonfiction book titled Peace by Chocolate about his remarkable journey by CBC journalist Jon Tattrie. A dramatized film version of his family's story premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2021.

Hadhad is championing What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad on Canada Reads 2022.

Canada Reads will take place March 28-31. The debates will be hosted by Ali Hassan and will be broadcast on CBC Radio One, CBC TV, CBC Gem and on CBC Books.

Hadhad spoke to host Gill Deacon on CBC Radio's Here and Now in Toronto.

Yeah, absolutely. You give it much thought. You know, we have to start strong, and I always said I'm in this to win it. So I'm really glad that this book made it to Canada Reads 2022, and I'm really proud of the author, Omar El Akkad, for such a brilliant novel.

For me, as a former refugee, I always seek to defend and support books that talk about our stories and the reasons why we leave home. Why What Strange Paradise is absolutely a must-read is because it's a story of two children trying to find their path through a complicated world. But it's also a story of hope and despair, empathy, compassion and carelessness. This book is a split between the before and the after of a refugee boat crash, and it is an eye-opener for each one of us to reconsider our sense of humanity, identity and belonging.

But at the same time, I asked myself after reading the book: "Why do we have to choose death to reach life?" We are living a privileged life here in Canada, and we have to take care of people who are suffering around the world.

It was incredible, to be honest. I had read American War by Omar, and he is a true hero for me. So to get the chance to meet him, and defend his book — it is absolutely incredible not only for me, but I think it's really amazing for everyone who is involved in the show. Omar is an incredible soul. He is from Egypt, and had this experience of growing up in the Middle East as well and coming to Canada. He truly shares a lot of the same passion that I have toward the idea of immigration and telling our stories to the world. I told him that I will do my best to make sure that this book makes it to the final. And hopefully we will see What Strange Paradise is the book that all of Canada should read in 2022.

What Strange Paradise is an absolutely incredible novel that has a lot of declarative sentences about what really brings us together as human beings. Canadians have been in the pandemic for over two years now, and we are all really struggling with our day-to-day life that we have forgotten in a place of privilege that a lot of people are suffering more than us. But at the same time, lots of people in the Western world, and here in Canada as well, always think that things are going to work out in the end.

We see in the book that this is not the case. We have to do our part to make sure that we are supporting those who are fleeing wars and persecution and really understanding that there is fluctuation between cruelty and kindness. So this book is absolutely a must-read not only to connect us, but to move us — to make sure we are all together.

It is surreal. It's absolutely fascinating and phenomenal. I never would have thought that I would arrive in Canada six years ago, and now I'd be defending books that matter to all Canadians.

I'm working toward a better Canada every day, and books are an incredible way to connect us. I was a medical student in Damascus, so I'm a book nerd by default. I try to always learn through cultures, through our own personalities as human beings, and through books that certainly have that hope at the end of the tunnel — because we always really seek that.

I call myself a fighter for peace, because we lost everything in a war we didn't want to become part of. So I always thought that the path to a lasting peace is certainly justice. And justice takes many, many different shapes and forms for us here in Canada that is different from around the world. But for me, I am a very proud Canadian citizen, celebrating the values of freedom, human rights, empathy. So throughout this competition, I hope to see that all come to life and to tell Canadians — for the many reasons from the lens of a refugee — what does it mean to live that experience, and why should we care a lot about it now, more than ever?