Commentaire 123 – commentaires et rétroaction

Anju Ayavoo

Good evening, Justice Leitch, Professor Bird, and Professor Loewen. Thank you for allowing me to voice my opinion regarding the deduction of one riding in Scarborough. As a resident of Scarborough, I am truly disheartened to learn about your recommendation as it like putting a cart before the horses.

My name is Anju Ayavoo, my family and I have been living in Scarborough North for the past 12 years. I immigrated to Canada from Malaysia in 2010. I am proud to live in Scarborough North where my young son studies, and I am are currently residing.

I learnt from the current news that the federal government announced their plan to welcome huge numbers of immigrants in the next three years. The projection presented made me overjoyed! Canada does need new immigrants to sustain its growth.

2023 - 465,000 immigrants

2024 - 485,000 immigrants

2025 - 500,000 immigrants

By the end of 2025, 1.45 million immigrants would have come and settled down in Canada. Immigration consultants predict that majority of new immigrants will come to Toronto and Scarborough which is a neighborhood of choice as their home, due to its rich diversity and housing affordability, also some of their relatives have been residing here.

Newcomers often turn to MP's office for help with sponsorship, immigration, Visa applications and more. Regions with fewer immigrants will require less assistance from their MPs. Your honor, the Scarborough residents needs constant MP's help as their representatives where such services are essential to them. I have personally used this service when I was a new immigrant to the country with limited knowledge and source. The immigrations were out of my reach as they charges are not affordable by me.

Moreover, we need effective representation and more resources to combat socio-economic challenges such as: poverty, crime, and mental health issues.

Poverty – more and more people had to rely on food bank to feed their family. Average residents' income in some regions in Scarborough is amongst the lowest. After more than two years of the pandemic, the inflation is out of control and many people are struggling with the basic needs. Some people especially the newcomers who are abused, abandoned by their family member seeks out for free help. They cannot afford to travel far as their budget is limited. I have personally helped so many of them during my days as a settlement worker with Frontline Community Center where we had to take help from the MP's office for our supporting letter to the immigration.

Crime Rate – it has been on the rise, and it has gotten much worse day by day. Just two days ago, there was a shooting in front of the Woburn Collegiate, in which an 18-year-old man was killed, and a 15-year-old boy was injured. Gun violence has been haunting Scarborough residents and part of GTA on a weekly basis and Scarborough has more than its fair share of these devastating crimes.

Mental health issues – recently, a police officer responded to a man with mental health issue who ended up in tragedy, in which the man fell to his death. This kind of situation is increasing because mental health problem is a major issue in a big city like Toronto.

Scarborough North needs all three levels of government to represent us as many residents are marginalized and vulnerable. There is a strong need for more effective representation, resources, and services.... not less!

The need of the people in this demographic should outweigh the number of headcounts, as we face not one issue but increasing issues at work, in the family and outside our home.

After all, by the time the next federal election takes place in a few years, people predict a significant increase in new immigrants would have landed in Scarborough and other parts of Toronto, what are we going to do between choosing the devil and the deep blue sea? Are we then going to add back a riding in Scarborough?

Basing the reason to cut a riding using the highly suspected under-counted data of the 2021 census, which was taken during lockdown is totally not justifiable.

The consequence of this decision in making us redundant without proper representation is terrible. Residents in Scarborough North will become victims subjected to 10 years without effective representation!!! Let us allocate our resources where it is needed the most! Do Not let the pink elephant theory hunt our community.

I strongly agree with Mayor John Tory.... Please keep 25 ridings in Toronto and 6 ridings in Scarborough!