Comment 362 – comments and feedback

Judy Yeung

save scarboroug north!!

Hello! My name is Judy Yeung, I have been in the Scarborough community for the past 46 years. I graduated from University of Toronto Scarborough Campus and have worked for 17 years as a senior manager at Bell Canada's Scarborough call centre, and presently I work in the Scarborough North Constituency Office.

I would like to begin by thanking Your Honour, Justice Leitch, and fellow members of the commission, Professor Bird and Professor Lowen, for the work you are doing and the difficult task you have.

As a proud member of the community, I witnessed the growth of Scarborough over the past four and half decades, and I have spoken to many of my colleagues and community members who have expressed shock and disbelief at various parts of the proposal.

First, Scarborough residents should not be moved into North York ridings. Secondly, Scarborough should not be reduced to 5 seats, but instead to keep 6. And thirdly, the riding of Scarborough North should be preserved and, if necessary, expanded to the south.

On the first point, anyone living in the City of Toronto will tell you that Scarborough is its own unique place. Scarborough has always been under-appreciated, but out of that came a strong sense of triumph and identity. People in Scarborough are proud to be in Scarborough, and this must be respected and preserved.

On the reduction of seats, it is important for me to point out that Scarborough is

underrepresented. The 2021 Census population count suggests our population is not increasing as fast as other parts of Ontario, but the truth is, Scarborough has 73% visible minorities and 57% immigrants according to the 2016 census, and along with this, many socio-economic challenges.

Your honour, people need to be represented with equity, not equality. Canada is a nation in which people with higher income are required to pay higher tax rates. Same concept applies to the vulnerable community in which they require services and representation the most because they do not have the resources of wealth and perhaps knowledge to help themselves. Please do not just go by the population but to take into account of the needs of the people who live the riding.

Senior without English, International students, foreign workers, and refugees were not properly counted during the pandemic census. Not sure if you remember the devastating outbreak of SARS in 2003, the Chinese community were in particular fearful of covid-19 right at the beginning, many of them were the first to put on masks before masks could be purchased widely.

Toronto Star headline: In 2003, a single patient left for 16 hours in the ER of what was then The Scarborough Hospital's Grace Division transmitted SARS to other patients, sparking a chain of infection that spread through Scarborough Grace, then to other hospitals through patient transfers and ultimately killed 44 and sickened more than 330 others.

During lockdowns, they did not allow their own children to visit them, let alone strangers who were there to do census. We know that many of them were not counted. Not to mention that violent cases were rising and it was not safe to open doors unless they were aware who were dropping groceries at their door steps.

There are many International schools in Scarborough, when the 2021 census was taken (14 months into the pandemic). We learned from school officials that majorities of the International students went back to their countries after having no in-person classes for many months. But these students have since returned. In Scarborough, there are over 10 International schools.

I personally know dozens of people who temporarily moved to Barrie and other nearby cities to work remotely. I also know that immigrant seniors who have a language-barrier did not fill out the census form and were so scared to open the door when we told them to stay isolated during the lockdown from COVID-19. All these people are in Scarborough, so please consider the true picture.

Finally, on my last point, I submit to you that Scarborough North is one community of identity. To be specific, McCowan Road is the glue that holds together our riding. There are many communities of interest built around McCowan Road, for example, on the north side, we have Alton Towers Circle, and further south at McCowan and Finch, we have Sandhurst Circle.

25 years ago, the Chartwell condo complexes on Sandhurst Circle were built. Some are on the east side of McCowan, and others on the west side, but this is one neighbourhood of people. It would not make sense for the residents to be split with different elected representatives. By cutting the riding down the middle at McCowan Road, it will divide long-established communities.

Your Honour, Scarborough North is the most diverse riding in the whole country with 91% people of colour. Many Chinese and South-Asian residents who were visiting back homes, could not come back to Canada as the borders were closed and there was no flight either. The censes in diverse regions like Scarborough North and Scarborough-Agincourt got affected in a higher rate, just simple maths.

We finally have good news these past couple of years with the approval from all three levels of government to build the new Scarborough subway extension. This is the first new subway stop being built in Scarborough since 1985. The new subway will terminate at McCowan and Sheppard in Scarborough North, where the proposal says the riding will be cut into half.

There are two Yee Hong for Geriatric Care Centres in Scarborough North, one is at Midland and McNicoll and the Yee Hong headquarter is at Finch and Middlefield, if the boundary is cut along McCowan as suggested, Scarborough Yee Hong centres will be separated and be put in two ridings, which does not make sense. As well, majorities of the seniors which Yee Hong serves are Chinese, whose family members predominately reside in Scarborough North and the surrounding areas.

The Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto is the largest Chinese cultural centre in North America and it does not make sense to put it in a riding which has only 4% of Chinese in it. Please keep it in Scarborough North where 45% of the residents are Chinese.

I ask you to keep Scarborough North intact but expand it to the south. If you must add additional population, my suggestion is to include the condos just south of Highway 401 in the Scarborough City Centre area. These are the newer communities built around the Scarborough Town Centre that are naturally extension of the Scarborough North community. I know because I witnessed the construction while I worked at the Bell Canada's building during those years.

These condos will also be linked once the subway is completed in several years, which by the way will bring massive growth and development to McCowan and Sheppard and to Scarborough North as a whole. Already our area is reviewing development proposals and talk of dozens of condo towers, e.g. at Woodside Square Mall.

Many experts said that the side effect of the pandemic: The rich gets richer, the poor gets poorer. We must not take away more representation from this marginalized group of people. Please keep Scarborough North as one of the six ridings in Scarborough as this group of people need effective representation.

As you know, voter turnout is at a new low. Drastic changes will further discourage voters' engagement. Honestly, after two and a half of pandemic years, people are longing for stability, not more changes.

Your Honour, they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Scarborough should not be losing a riding. Ontario is gaining one riding in fact, and you can just add that new riding in Brampton where they need it.

Please save representation for the vulnerable and the voiceless. We are immigrants and we came here because we believe in being counted in this beautiful Canadian democracy. Thank you, Your Honour.

p.s. I edited my presentation with a few more points.