New business zones, marquee attractions — we can and should look for more projects to rally behind
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.
Now is the time for residents of Scarborough to make their voices heard. Politicians are visiting local events and knocking on doors to ask for your vote.
New politicians want to unseat currently elected officials and replace them. Incumbent politicians are seeking re-election, telling you they have done a good job and deserve another term.
On October 26 — and the advance voting days leading up to it — you will get the chance to say which vision you endorse.
But here’s the thing. Politicians are offering very little big vision when it comes to Scarborough and, quite frankly, residents aren’t demanding that much in return. It’s often said that Scarborough is forgotten by the politicians and bureaucrats downtown at City Hall. This is true. But it’s time to put requests on the table that can’t be ignored.
Councillors work hard to connect with their community and are available to serve and support residents with their municipal concerns.
But we need to ask more of them in terms of community-building projects. There is not much promised, let alone in progress, for what the future holds for Scarborough. What is the vision for the future of Scarborough?
As the MPulse summary of the mayoral platforms explains it, the only meaningful way that Scarborough factors into their plans is in promises to build the Scarborough East LRT quicker than the other candidate.
This is a good thing, to be sure. Scarborough needs better transit. That’s no secret though and it’s nothing new. Politicians shouldn’t be applauded for finally getting around to something that we’ve known to be true for decades.
The new transit projects coming to Scarborough are important and the elected officials, bureaucrats and private sector partners who have worked to make it happen deserve credit. It’s not exactly visionary though.
Likewise the retrofits of the Scarborough Health Network. The SHN deserves investment and it’s a celebration that it’s finally getting it. But healthcare is one of the basics — it’s what so much of our provincial tax dollars go towards. Finally getting what Scarborough deserves shouldn’t be something that’s treated as an exceptional win. It should be the norm.
There are leaders who do a lot to foster community in Scarborough. Councillor Michael Thompson’s growth of the Taste of Lawrence comes to mind — a truly impressive and enjoyable community event.
We need more voices to step forward and put proactive ideas on the map — ideas for developments in Scarborough that we can turn into campaigns that we can all get behind.
During the 2023 mayoral campaign, which I was a candidate in, I met with the leadership of a mandir temple in Scarborough. A lot of their congregation worked in tech jobs and traveled downtown everyday. These are long commutes and they were left wondering why there wasn’t more being done to market Scarborough as a host for the innovation economy. It’s an excellent point.
The Coronation Drive area in south eastern Scarborough is a targeted zone for industrial development. We can create other such zones to attract investment and local jobs in high-growth sectors.
The same for creating marquee hang-outs that Scarborough residents spend time at and also draw in people from across the city. I enjoy hanging out at the Scarborough Town Centre — I did it as a teenager and now I do it with my teenage son. But there should be more destinations to Scarborough than the STC.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot happening that’s worth celebrating. The Scarborough Shooting Stars basketball team is gaining new followers by the day. The Scarborough Business Association is bringing more entrepreneurs together. And the Northpine Foundation is making an ambitious bet in focusing support on many impactful Scarborough organizations.
What I’m saying is that there’s space for more voices to step forward and share their vision. When someone gets the ball rolling, you never know how many people will get behind it and help push.
Anthony Furey is a business consultant, former long-time journalist and 2023 Toronto mayoral candidate. Email him at Anthony@furey.ca
