Scarborough Centre

Scarborough Centre is an urban riding in eastern Toronto, stretching from Eglinton Avenue in the south to the Highway 401 corridor in the north, and from Victoria Park Avenue in the west toward McCowan Road in the east. The riding includes the neighbourhoods of Scarborough City Centre, Wexford, Bendale, Ionview, Dorset Park, and the Golden Mile commercial strip along Eglinton Avenue East.

Candidates

Roxanne James (Conservative) — James was a real estate agent and former systems analyst who had previously run as the Conservative candidate in Scarborough Centre in both 2006 and 2008. Her 2011 campaign was her third attempt at the seat.

John Cannis (Liberal) — Cannis was the incumbent, first elected in 1993 and serving continuously for eighteen years. Born in Kalymnos, Greece, he was raised and educated in Toronto. Before entering politics, he was an entrepreneur who owned an international executive search firm. In Parliament, he served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Industry from 1999 to 2001, and held positions as chair and vice-chair of several standing committees including national defence, transport, and foreign affairs subcommittees.

Natalie Hundt (NDP) — Hundt ran as the NDP candidate in the riding.

Ella Ng represented the Green Party.

About the Riding

Scarborough Centre was anchored by the Scarborough Town Centre mall and the surrounding cluster of high-rise office and residential towers that formed Scarborough’s civic and commercial core. The riding contained a mix of post-war suburban housing in its southern reaches and denser apartment development nearer to the Town Centre.

The Golden Mile, along Eglinton Avenue East near the riding’s western boundary, was historically one of Scarborough’s main industrial corridors, home to manufacturing plants for companies such as General Electric and General Motors in the post-war decades. By 2011, much of this industrial base had given way to big-box retail and was beginning to be considered for redevelopment.

The riding’s population was highly diverse. The area had large South Asian, Chinese, and Filipino communities, among others, and a majority of residents identified as members of visible minority groups. Many residents were newcomers to Canada, and issues of settlement services, foreign credential recognition, and transit access were important local concerns. The Scarborough RT, the elevated rapid transit line connecting the Town Centre to the Bloor-Danforth subway at Kennedy station, was aging and its replacement was a major transit policy debate. Employment in the riding was distributed across retail, health care, and service industries, with the Scarborough Hospital’s General campus serving as a significant local employer.