This journalist says Canada saved him. Now he's saving a 136-year-old Ontario newspaper

Mohsin Abbas was lazing about over the holidays last month, watching TV, when he learned about tiny Tilbury, Ont., losing its local newspaper and the huge hole it's left in the community.

The journalist heard about the closure while listening to a CBC Radio special on what happens when the local news stops. Postmedia shut down the Tilbury Times and a handful of other community newspapers in Ontario and Manitoba in 2020, citing falling ad revenues.

But the demise of the Times gave Abbas an idea.

Abbas drove to the southwestern Ontario town of 4,800 that's between London and Windsor. He knew he needed to revive the Times, which halted circulation after 136 years. Now, less than a month later, he's the publisher.

"I know the importance of local journalism," he said. "It's our social responsibility."

It's nothing new for Abbas. He's started up his own independent publications before, and worked in newsrooms big and small — in Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Currently, he's a freelance contributor for BBC News reporting in Urdu and Punjabi, and runs another small news outlet called the Milton Reporter.

Abbas originally worked in Pakistan. He came to Canada as a refugee claimant in the early 2000s, when it was dangerous to be a journalist in his home country.

"Just imagine a guy in a prison, sitting in this Third World country and waiting to be killed in a police encounter. And then he leaves that place, enters Canada and he's still alive and happy with a beautiful family 20 years later. It's priceless," he said. 

"What I'm doing is nothing ... I thank Canada for saving me."

The Times reboot comes as a shock to locals, who have tried to find creative ways to stay connected since the paper closed, including local Facebook groups. Some even thought the paper's revival was a joke.

Gerry Harvieux, the newspaper's former editor, doubted it would ever return.

But Harvieux spoke to Abbas and he's rooting for him.

"He's very sincere. I think he definitely has a passion for the industry," he said. "If he can get through the initial startup phase, I think it will be really good for our community."

Harvieux hopes to write for the new outlet occasionally and will share contacts with Abbas.