In Memoriam – Afshan Dar

The Department of Economics is saddened to convey the news of the passing of Afshan Dar to ovarian cancer. She is survived by her husband, Mathieu Brodeur, and her daughter, Eshana, and a sister, Sindura, and their families. Afshan completed her Ph.D. in the Department in 2013 (Co-Supervisors Professors Zhiqi Chen and Vivek Dehejia, and Committee Member Professor Hashmat Khan) and then started a career as an economist at Statistics Canada. Afshan wrote an outstanding PhD thesis. After she graduated, Afshan and Zhiqi expanded her thesis chapter on trade and labour standards and submitted it to the Canadian Journal of Economics. The final round of revisions for the CJE was completed between her two surgeries in 2019, and she contributed to the revisions despite her health situation. The paper was published in 2020.

A native of Nova Scotia, Afshan had economics in her blood–her parents, Atul Dar and Najma Sharif, are both Ph.D. economists from Dalhousie University and for many years taught at universities in Nova Scotia. So in a way she was continuing in her parents’ footsteps when she herself did a Ph.D. in economics and became an economist by profession. Afshan was a great colleague to her fellow students. She was the first TA mentor and took her role to heart. Professor Lynda Khalaf, who was the Ph.D. Program Supervisor at that time, directly witnessed how much time and effort Afshan put into assisting her colleagues.

She had wisdom way beyond her years and was a genuinely caring person. Afshan fought her illness with courage and determination, and was surrounded by her loving and closely knit family. She shared her story with Ovarian Cancer Canada in January 2020. We would like to share our deepest condolences with the Brodeur and Dar families on behalf of her family at Carleton.

Please see the following message from the Brodeur and Dar families:

Afshan’s Celebration of life:

Please join us in celebrating Afshan’s life and commemorate how impactful and magical she was. As Afshan has so many friends and family, we will be hosting more than one celebration:

• Ottawa (2 Parkfield Cres), Oct 16, 2021, Any time between 1 to 4 pm.
• Halifax (6 Village Cres), Nov 6, 2021, Time: TBD
• Another celebration will be held in Verchères (QC) with Mathieu’s family.

A few notes:

• Dress Code: Please dress in colour! We want our attire to match the brightness of Afshan’s smile.
• Donation: For people wanting to make a donation in Afshan’s name, please consider the Ovarian Cancer Society or Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital.
• Scholarship: We are also establishing a scholarship under Afshan’s name at Carleton University. We hope that this will be ready soon. Please contact Sinduif you would like to stay in the loop and donate to her scholarship when it is ready.
• COVID-19: Please be mindful of the COVID-19 restrictions and consider staying home if you are displaying any symptoms. Also, we encourage people to stagger their visits as much as possible, popping in and out as places permit (when possible, let us know when you plan to come to help us manage things better).
• Virtual attendance: For those that cannot attend physically, we will be providing a zoom link should you wish to join us virtually.
• Refreshment: We will be serving non-boring beverages and some nice appetizers (i.e., no crustless sandwiches).
• Memory Book: A special book will be there to allow you to write your favourite memory of Afshan. Ultimately, this book will go to Eshana, her beautiful daughter (so keep it PG, folks!).
• For planning purposes, please let us know if/when you plan on attending, including the location (including virtual).