Greetings, fellow Scarborough residents.
A by-election just took place in Scarborough Rouge Park, to replace former councillor Jennifer McKelvie.
Neethan Shan is the new councillor. SCRO congratulations Mr. Shan on his victory and looks forward to working with him and our other Scarborough councillors as we all strive to create an even better Scarborough.
This by-election revealed something very interesting to those of us who value civic engagement: the important role of our residents’ associations in promoting political engagement and building community cohesion.
Like other City by-elections, this one attracted many candidates. Twenty, to be exact. Most did not have a high profile; in fact, many were largely unknown outside of their core group of supporters. Many were running their campaigns on a shoestring budget. There was little attention from the mainstream media and no polling.
What’s a conscientious voter to do?
That’s where our residents’ associations come in. The south half of Scarborough Rouge Park is blessed to have four of them: West Hill, Highland Creek, Centennial and West Rouge. Collectively, they cover almost half of the ward’s population. Full disclosure: I am part of the West Rouge Community Association.
One of the fundamental roles of residents’ associations is to foster citizen engagement on a non-partisan basis. In this by-election, these associations did that very well. Working together, they organized two candidate forums. Both included a “candidate marketplace”. Think of it as a trade show, where each candidate had a table, brought campaign materials, and engaged in small group conversations with interested residents.
From a resident’s perspective, it was “political speed dating”, offering an opportunity to meet many candidates at one time. For the 14 candidates who attended both sessions, it provided an opportunity to meet 350 highly motivated voters. So it was a “win-win” for both candidates and residents.
But there’s more. At the second session, each candidate was able to make short opening remarks; call it an “elevator speech”. Not exactly fulsome, but enough to help residents decide which candidates they wanted to speak with more fully during the marketplace that followed.
I also want to acknowledge the support of Scarborough United Neighbourhoods (SUN) and the Scarborough Civic Action Network (SCAN), who were terrific partners for these events.
SUN has done this before, during the Scarborough Southwest by-election in 2023, which also had a crowded field of candidates. SUN was able to provide advice to the four associations and also helped with promotion and logistics. SUN also worked with SCAN and others to create a video of the candidates’ opening remarks that the residents’ associations were able to share with their communities through social media.
This story illustrates the important role of residents’ associations in creating healthy neighbourhoods. Without these all-volunteer groups fostering non-partisan citizen engagement, events like these simply don’t happen. Voters lose important opportunities to be informed and candidates lose important opportunities to receive valuable feedback from motivated voters.
Residents’ associations do other things too. Many organize community events that bring neighbours together. Some publish newsletters and host local websites or social media. Some provide opportunities for political engagement between elections through annual meetings and town halls. And all residents’ associations strive to install a sense of local pride and community cohesion.
In fact, I would say the same about the Scarborough Community Renewal Organization. What residents’ associations strive to do at the neighbourhood level is what SCRO strives to do for Scarborough as a whole.
If you are fortunate to live in a community with a residents’ association, I encourage you to become involved as much as you are able to. You’ll feel a deeper connection to your neighbourhood and you’ll receive intrinsic rewards, knowing you have made a difference in the life of your community.
Larry Whatmore
President
Scarborough Community Renewal Organization
(416) 562-2101
