Mohamad Fakih and the City of Mississauga are suing each other for millions of dollars, marking a major escalation in their ongoing feud over the Paramount Fine Foods Centre.
The city sued well-known restauranteur Fakih for $9 million on Monday for breach of contract, accusing Fakih’s company of failing to pay debts linked to a naming rights deal at the city-owned arena. Fakih sued the city last week for $4.25 million for defamation over public comments made by the city and Mayor Carolyn Parrish about the dispute.
The lawsuits are part a spectacular falling out between Mississauga and Fakih, a prominent local businessman and philanthropist who holds a key to the city.
In an emailed statement on Monday, Fakih accused Parrish of using the dispute as a “political stunt” in the lead up to the October municipal election.
“This lawsuit is the latest in a continued pattern of troubling behavior by Mayor Parrish and her office,” Fakih said. “This is a political stunt against a man who has spent over a decade investing in, donating to, and serving this city.”
Mississauga spokesperson Irene McCutcheon told the Star the city is aware of Fakih’s defamation claim.
“We believe it is entirely without merit and will respond in due course through the courts,” she said. “As this issue is now in the courts, the Mayor and the city have no further comment at this time.”
Starting in 2018, the arena was named after Fakih’s restaurant chain, Paramount Fine Foods. But last month, the city said it terminated that arrangement because Paramount owed the city $1.6 million in sponsorship fees and concessions royalties.
In the lawsuit, the city said it is claiming $9 million to cover the debt, as well as lost future revenue and costs to find a new sponsor for the arena, which is currently home to the Raptors 905 of the NBA G League. The claim also accused Paramount of damaging the premises and “removing fixturing and equipment owned by the City.”
The city said Paramount started falling behind on payments “almost immediately after entering into the agreement,” according to the statement of claim. Mr. Fakih disputed that timeline in a statement on Monday.
The city’s legal action comes after Fakih launched a lawsuit of his own on Friday, claiming $4.5 million and accusing the city and the mayor of libel and defamation in earlier comments about the removal of the naming rights, which Fakih claims caused him and his business “humiliation, distress, and injury.”
In the suit, Fakih alleges that Paramount was in the final stages of negotiating repayment of outstanding debts related to a $450,000 annual sponsorship fee, as well as the city’s 10 per cent cut of revenue at Paramount-branded concession stands at the arena.
Fakih said the company fell behind on payments while he wasn’t in control of the company. As the pandemic battered the hospitality industry, Fakih was also locked in a bitter legal battle with the majority shareholder of Paramount. Fakih regained control of the company in late 2025 and “worked diligently and transparently with the city to address the arrears,” according to his statement of claim.
Fakih said Parrish assisted in negotiations to provide a 30 per cent discount on the debt.
“Mayor Parrish advised Mr. Fakih who to meet with at the city to achieve a resolution and asked Mr. Fakih not to share the fact that she was assisting him in this way and to keep their communications confidential,” the statement of claim reads.
Fakih said both sides agreed on repayment of roughly $1.3 million over three years but the deal fell apart because the city asked Fakih to put up a house he owned, or the cash equivalent, as collateral. According to the statement of claim, Fakih offered a personal guarantee as well as business collateral, but the city “progressively increased and repeatedly changed the type of security it demanded, moving the goalposts each time.”
“She demanded a lien on my family home, the home where my children sleep,” Fakih said in an Instagram video last week. “That was offensive to me.”
In an open letter to constituents on May 26, Parrish said after months of negotiations with Paramount, it became clear “that a reasonable conclusion cannot be reached.”
In his defamation claim, Fakih described the city’s public statements as “unprecedented.” The city doesn’t normally make public announcements about the termination of vendor contracts, he said, but in this case, it abandoned its confidentiality obligations “only to inflict reputational harm.”
