Comment 18 – comments and feedback

Sawera K. Malik

As a recent immigrant to Canada and to the Brampton west diverse and vibrant community I found a home. Being a newcomer is not easy, adjusting to a new country and a new atmosphere can be very overwhelming. The community at Brampton West welcomed me with open arms, I have found opportunities to grow and set roots. This home includes our beautiful community center, our parks where our children play and our seniors meet. It also includes The Brampton Islamic Center where me and my family go to pray every friday. By proposing to change these boundaries the respected commission is proposing to cut away parts of our beloved home.

I as a part of this community will like to express my concerns over the new proposed boundaries for Federal ridings. Cassie Campbell is a place where we gather. My 2 year old nephew takes his swimming lessons, my mom is planning to take a gym membership and my Dad wants to become a part of the seniors club. This proposal will prevent the older members of our community from coming together and will drive them towards experiencing social isolation. It is important for us to keep our community center Cassie Campbell in Brampton West or else it would result in the community we worked so hard to develop being cut out of Brampton West.

I, my family and our neighbors come from the area surrounding the community center. However, if the proposal were to go through this would unnecessarily split our community apart.

In the past and present we have had the full support of our Member of Parliament. We have built a relationship here. I worry that if our community is split in two we will no longer be able to do this or maintain as close of a relationship with our federal government. Now more than ever, with the cost of living rising, and other important issues such as Islamophobia, 10 dollar a day childcare, climate change being discussed, we believe that it is critical we are still able to have consistent, dependable representation and discussions with our Member of Parliament.

I have deep concerns about the proposal as it would result in our places of worship also being needlessly separated from our community. If the Commission were to leave Brampton West's eastern boundary north of Bovaird street as it currently is this would ensure that their religious centers, namely Brampton Islamic Center, Gurdwara Sikh Sangat, NICE mosque and several churches remain in our community. It is very important to us as a community to stay together and grow together.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best,

Sawera K. Malik