'No to illegal border crossers': Markham candidates deliver petition to City Hall

Mayoral candidate Shan Hua Lu, Ward 2 council candidate Charles Jiang deliver 1,500-name petition

Yorkregion.com
August 1, 2018
Tim Kelly

Two candidates for Markham council, including one running for mayor, presented a 1,500-name petition to Markham deputy mayor Jack Heath the morning of Aug. 1 calling on Markham not to accept any "irregular border crossers" into the city.

Shan Hua Lu, who is registered to run for mayor against incumbent Frank Scarpitti and others, held a fistful of the petitions, which state that “there are about 5,000 asylum seekers (75 per cent of them are from Nigeria)”, and warns they may come to Markham, per news reports.

Lu, pressed repeatedly to talk about the contents of the petition and how that squares with her position as a mayoral candidate for Markham, declined to discuss the issue.

"I don’t want to talk about it," she said. "It’s just a petition. I don’t want to talk about irregular border crossers."

She stated she had not started her campaign and would not address the issue of running for mayor while taking a stand on this issue.

However, Charles Jiang, registered to run as a candidate for council in Ward 2, had no problem voicing his position on the issue.

“We are saying 'no' to illegal border crossers into Canada, that’s my position,” said Jiang, who came to Canada in 2000.

Jiang said he had to go through a criminal background check, and said it’s his opinion the majority of the residents of Ward 2, where he has lived for 18 years and raised two children, and where he said he has a business, support his position.

“We, as a country, need to be responsible for people who are living in this country,” Jiang said.

The petition presentation comes hot on the heels of a protest July 28 on the grounds of the Markham Civic Centre that pitted a crowd of those opposed to what they called "illegal border crossers" and a much smaller group of those in support of them, during which punches were thrown.

The demonstrators held signs that read: “Markham say no to illegal border crossers.” “Illegal free boat riders are not welcome.” “Defend our borders”.

Police were called to calm down the screaming people. As many as two dozen officers arrived to settle the crowd before they dispersed.

"I guess I worry about anyone who really stirs up the community with misinformation," Scarpitti said. "I’d be very concerned that at least one, if not two or three people who are running in this municipal election were the orchestrators of that particular protest and once again, we’re seeing people spreading misinformation in an effort to whip up the community and to get the community to take a particular stand."

The original offer to allow migrants and refugees to stay temporarily in Markham was made during a conference call with Toronto Mayor John Tory and had nothing to do with a visit by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Markham last month, Scarpitti said.

"I offered our support and understanding as a neighbouring municipality. With a crunch coming, they were trying to get ahead of the problem, no different than when a neighbouring municipality faced some kind of disaster like hydro lines being down, send hydro crews to help out."

The support would simply mean temporarily housing some people to alleviate the stress on a neighbouring municipality's resources, Scarpitti said.

A joint statement released by the Centre for Immigrants and Community Services and Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic defended Scarpitti and criticized those who organized Saturday’s demonstration.

"As organizations that work with many Markham residents of Chinese descent, we are particularly aware of the checkered history of Canada when it comes to its immigration and refugee policy," the statement said.

"For decades, Chinese Canadians were subject to racist immigration policies including the Chinese Head Tax and the Exclusion Act that were designed specifically to restrict and/or exclude Chinese from coming to Canada," it said. "Even after the Exclusion Act was repealed, restrictions on Chinese immigration continued, limiting entrance to only spouse and children of Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Chinese descent.

“The City of Markham is one of the most diverse cities in Canada -- and in the world -- with 78 per cent of its population made up of communities of colour, and about 50 per cent born outside of Canada. Mayor Scarpitti’s proposal is in keeping with Markham’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.”