Comment 353 – comments and feedback

Lilian Leeshanok

Good evening, My name is Lilian Leeshanok. I am a resident at the yee hong garden terrace and a long time community member, volunteer and leader.

First of all, thank you, the Commission, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to allow us to voice our concerns at this hearing.

Second of all, I agree with the previous representatives of Yee Hong and I support the plan presented by our elected Member of Parliament, Mr. Shaun Chen. It is important for us, the Seniors of this area, to have good representation.

I can remember back in the 1980s, the north Scarborough area had only one Member of Parliament, the riding was called York-Scarborough. We had fought hard over the years to have a more diverse representation! We have succeeded and made progress, therefore, it makes no sense for us to revert to the old days and lose all that we had worked so hard to achieve. This does not sound fair or right at all!

To add "insult to injury", the Province and the City will also follow the Federal Government's Plan for the division of the ridings, so this means that we shall lose three times at three levels of government.

I do not think that less will be better. It will not be better, it will hurt us and it is an unfair distribution of the community.

I hope the Commission will reconsider the plan and return the 6 Ridings in Scarborough, including my home area of Scarborough North to its original state. Progress is good but not in this particular case, this is a regression of a system that works.

Thank you very much for listening to my presentation.