Commentaire 130 – commentaires et rétroaction

Aris Babikian
MPP Scarborough—Agincourt

Good Evning,

I would like to begin by expressing my shock and concern with these proposed boundary changes in Scarborough.

Due to these new proposed changes, parts of Scarborough Agincourt will be absorbed by North York. Meanwhile, west of Warden and south of McNicoll would be cut off from the riding of Scarborough Agincourt.

As a resident of Scarborough-Agincourt for 32 years and the Member of the Provincial Parliament, I consider Scarborough's losing of a seat disappointing and unacceptable.

Scarborough has been underrepresented and ignored for decades. Taking a seat from Scarborough will make matters worse. Also, it will divide well-established historical community ties. If these proposed changes in Scarborough are approved, the consequences will be catastrophic to the residents of Scarborough.

In the new proposed boundaries, key locations and organizations will fall under North York. Pillar places, organizations, and buildings in Scarborough-Agincourt, like Bridlewood Mall, the Anglican Church of St. Paul, L'Amoreaux (established in 1840), Vintage Gardens, SPLC, Tendercare, and Bridletowne Condos that have been historically in Scarborough-Agincourt will all fall into the North York riding of Don Valley North.

Important communities like Chester Le, parts of L'amoreaux, Wishing Well, Village of Agincourt (founded in 1858) which boasts a rich cultural and historical tradition will be lost.

The 2012 redistribution commission in its final report to the House of Commons stated: "The Commission's approach to the Scarborough area was to respect the former city boundary, and to treat this area, and its six electoral districts, as an historical community."

These changes will also affect many different services in Scarborough. Whether it is police services, education and schools, Canada Post mail distribution, legal aid delivery, settlement services, public transit, healthcare services, and other services, will be in shambles and chaos.

The provincial government knows that Scarborough's population is increasing rapidly. That is why the provincial government is investing $1 billion to build a new Birchmount Hospital tower, building the new Bridletowne Community Hub and Dialysis Center, new medical school, and thousands of long term care beds.

The government is also investing billions of dollars in public transit in Scarborough, starting from the Scarborough Subway Extension (from Kennedy Station to McCowan Road) and the Sheppard Subway Extension from Don Mills to McCowan.

In doing so, it is closing the Scarborough loop by providing quick and seamless transit for those heading into and out of the downtown core and those travelling within Scarborough.

Scarborough has been a welcoming community to immigrants and refugees. This trend will continue.

Developments in Scarborough are at an all-time high. Multiple condos, apartments, and townhouse projects are in development to support all the different people that want to call Scarborough their home.

The municipal government already approved 30 condo projects with the prospect of 19,328 units. These projects alone will increase the population of Scarborough-Agincourt by at least 60.000 people.

The above facts make it clear that our representation should increase instead of decreasing.

Scarborough is its own region and has its own heritage and history. Mixing a portion of Scarborough with North York is a bad idea which is why I call on the commission to reserve its decision and

• Maintain the ridings of Scarborough-Agincourt as it is; and
• Maintain Victoria Park Avenue as the western boundary of the riding of Scarborough-Agincourt and Scarborough; and
• Maintain the current eastern boundaries of the current Scarborough-Agincourt.

Finally, I would like to thank the organizations and individuals from Scarborough Agincourt for their hard work and for effectively advocating on behalf of the residents.

I would like to end this presentation by thanking the Federal Electoral Boundaries Commission for conducting these public hearings and ensuring that the voices of the residents and organizations are being heard. The input and engagement by the public are very important for our democratic process and for electoral transparency.

Thank you.

Aris Babikian, MPP

Scarborough-Agincourt