On the campaign trail by public transit

Neethan Shan and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath
Neethan Shan and Ontario NDP
leader Andrea Horwath

Neethan Shan, NDP candidate in the upcoming provincial by-election for Scarborough-Rouge River, boarded a

TTC bus from his home in the riding last Monday, then got on the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the subway on a

journey to Queen’s Park.

For Shan, it was” not just another ordinary trip “by public transit. This time he was accompanied by Ontario

NDP leader Andrea Horwath and the ride to Queen’s Park was to highlight the urgent need for new and improved transit facilities for his riding.

“Every day in the long cold winter and in the heat of summer, people in Scarborough are commuting an

average of four hours a day just to go to work and return home,” Horwath noted.

“Together with Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP, I will fight for Scarborough each and every day and make sure the Scarborough subway finally gets built,” he told The Caribbean Camera on Tuesday.

He said Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals have failed to take action on transit in Scarborough. “Liberals claim to be

transit champions. But when they get elected, they don’t get the job done.

They don’t fight for Scarborough,” he added.

Shan who served as a Toronto District School Board trustee, after a January, 2016 by-election, and is Executive Director of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians, is appealing to the Caribbean community to join him in the fight for better public facilities in Scarborough and for jobs for the unemployed and improved facilities for senior citizens.

A long-time fighter for equity and against racial profiling, Shan who holds an M. Ed in Sociology and Equity Studies, said “ I have not stopped and won’t stop serving our community and fighting for Scarborough.”

Voters in Scarborough- Rouge River will go to the polls on September 1. Shan, who was seen as a close rival to former Liberal MPP Bas Balkissoon,- the latter resigned his seat suddenly – said “The last time, the people of

Scarborough believed in Kathleen Wynne’s promises.

This time, they will demand action.”

The other candidates from the major parties in the riding are Liberals’ Piragal Thiru (Liberal) and, Raymond

Cho (Progressive Conservative).