Commentaire 198 – commentaires et rétroaction

Sharon Kerr

Fairness is to ensure that the people of Scarborough are treated in an equitable manner. The Ontario Commission is proposing that a federal seat be removed from Toronto based on sample number from a census. Why is it that one of the most populous regions of Toronto is being singled out and having its voice reduced, forcing distinct regions and populi to assimilate? This is not the path forward for diverse communities.

I live in the Malvern community, where the riding was once called Scarborough Rouge River. Due to a population boom, the federal government decide that it should be split into two ridings, Scarborough North and Scarborough Rouge Park. These ridings were logical, as the growing community created geographies with distinct demographics. West of Neilson road, the community is predominately Chinese/East Asian and East of it the community is one with strong Tamil/South Asian ethnicities. Thus, the split in to two ridings represented the distinct communities and provided them with their own voices. The proposed amalgamation would not only reduce the number of federal ridings in the region but strip these communities of their voices, forcing a cultural melting pot on us.

North Scarborough is unique from the rest of Toronto and the rest of Scarborough. In some neighbourhoods, people of colour are 99% of the population. It is where newcomers come to settle and begin their life in Canada. It's where international students find affordable housing and may eventually become Permanent Residents; it is where poverty, race, and gender intersect to produce multiple layers of oppression.

The Ontario Commission should not just look at numbers. In the absence of an equity diversity and inclusion lens, Scarborough will become further systematically oppressed.

The commission must go beyond the numbers and look at the people to make an equitable decision that prioritizes representation for people of colour who have fought for an equitable life and without the ability to have unique representation, these communities will only be pushed backwards in time.

Act in the name of the people in these ridings, chose the equitable option, do not redistribute the ridings within Scarborough, ensure that all communities have the ability to make their voices heard in the house of commons with their own riding.

Sharon Kerr