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This week, we are introducing five people who have made a major contribution to Canadian society this year. Each runner-up will be profiled as a prelude to the announcement of our winner Saturday, Dec. 31.

The Chinese Communists didn't know what to make of Four Seasons founder Isadore (Izzy) Sharp three years ago, when capitalism's innkeeper broke ground on a luxury hotel in Shanghai.

As soon as Mr. Sharp, a sprightly 73-year-old, and his staff started construction, they went to city hall asking for permission to stage a Terry Fox run. The Chinese government insists on issuing permits for any gathering of its citizens.

Shanghai officials had never heard of Terry Fox. The civil servants also drew a blank on the concept of a fundraiser. After considerable negotiation, the proper paperwork was procured. But the government ruled that a maximum of 25 people could take part.

So two dozen hotel staff and friends joined a tradition embraced by thousands of Canadians, and employee volunteers at 67 Four Seasons properties in 29 countries. They jogged in Shanghai to honour the spirit of a curly-haired kid from Port Coquitlam, B.C., claimed by cancer back in 1981. And, just as in Canada, something magical happened.

"The first run was a success, so the next year, the government eased up. They let 50 people run," recalls Mr. Sharp with a smile. "This year, when I happened to be in Shanghai, they took off the restrictions. Thousands of people ran. All these Shanghai businesses and governments hung out banners to support us. And every runner had on a Terry Fox T-shirt.

"The Shanghai run has become a way for China to westernize its culture, with its own, individual stamp."

It's not enough that he's quietly helped raise millions for cancer research. Or that he ponied up $20-million to finally give opera a decent home in Toronto — the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is scheduled to open its doors in June.

And it's not that he's a business kingpin, the son of Polish immigrants who now runs a $2.1-billion Canadian company that defines opulent accommodation around the globe. Four Seasons will open eight new palaces this year, including locations in Damascus and Buenos Aires, and the chain wants to have 100 hotels in five years' time.

No, Izzy Sharp is a nation builder because he's changing the world.

He's introducing the trappings of success to China. He's committed to taking Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope to its end, with a cure for cancer. And at a time when the Western world is at odds with Islam, Four Seasons is building throughout the Middle East and this Jewish hotelier's biggest financial backer is Muslim — Saudi Arabian Prince al-Waleed bin Talal.

"Businesses are all relationships, based on common values, values such as staying true to your word," Mr. Sharp says. "Every religion also enshrines those values, so you can have different religious beliefs, but underlying those beliefs, you've got people who must have similar values, and can work together."

Mr. Sharp's values reflect his roots as a renovator's kid. His father was a plasterer who graduated into building Toronto homes in the 1930s and 40s — Mr. Sharp jokes that he moved 15 times in his first 16 years, as mom and dad moved in, fixed up, then moved on.

After earning an architecture degree from what's now Ryerson University, Mr. Sharp joined the family company. He married a decorator, Rosalie Wise, who he refers to as "the most talented person I know," and they had four sons. In 1959, he struck out on his own, buying his first hotel in downtown Toronto. Hard work — he still visits each of his properties at least once a year — guts and an eye for detail paved the way to international success.

But cancer touched the family in 1978, when Mr. Sharp's 17-year-old son Christopher died of the disease. When a 21-year-old Terry Fox first showed up on TV two years later, at the start of his cross-country odyssey, Mr. Sharp found an outlet for his desire to do something, anything, to fight cancer.

First he promised the Marathon of Hope team an occasional night's lodging. Then he asked to chat to Mr. Fox, who called, somewhat despondent, from a roadside phone booth in Newfoundland.

"No one seemed to be taking him seriously. I mean, a kid with one leg, running all the way across Canada? It seemed so far-fetched. People were cutting him off with their cars on the highway," recalls Mr. Sharp. The Toronto-born executive pledged cash, and challenged the business community to do the same. When the marathon was cut short in Thunder Bay, Ont. by the return of Mr. Fox's cancer, the hotel executive and the B.C. runner chatted numerous times, and laid the groundwork for what's become a worldwide event.

Terry Fox's goal was to raise a dollar from every Canadian, or about $25-million. To date, with Mr. Sharp keeping a shoulder behind the campaign, the proceeds run to $400-million. And now the Four Seasons founder has the Chinese stepping up.