Subaru is 2025 Consumer Reports Most Reliable Automotive Brand
Volume 55 No. 5
BEACHMETRO.COM
APRIL 28, 2026
A
“Our family helping your family” We have been serving the Scarborough community like family since 1986!
2590 EGLINTON AVE E. SCARBOROUGH • 416-265-4411 • SCAROROSUBARU.CA
Dance Off at Notre Dame
Over 800 Five Star Reviews on Google!
Motorized watercraft ban o local beaches approved By Alan Shackleton
PHOTO: ALIZÉE LEGRAIN
Notre Dame Catholic High School’s Avidity team performs during the school’s 17th annual Dance Off competition held on Friday night. Avidity finished second in the competition which featured performances from teams representing 12 Toronto Catholic District School Board high schools. The winning team for this year’s Dance Off was Diversity in Sight from Loretto College.
MOTORIZED WATERCRAFT will be banned within 150 metres of both Woodbine and Cherry beaches this summer. Toronto Council made the decision at its April 22 meeting. The motion as first presented to council only called for a ban on the motorized watercraft off Woodbine Beach, Hanlan’s Point Beach on the islands and Humber Bay Shores in Etobicoke. However, a motion by TorontoDanforth Councillor Paula Fletcher to include Cherry Beach and the Outer Harbour on the west side of the Leslie Street Spit in this summer’s ban as part of the Continued on Page 10
Doly Begum sets priorities as new Liberal MP By Matthew Stephens
AS SHE transitions from Queen’s Park in Toronto to the House of Commons in Ottawa, newly elected Liberal MP Doly Begum said her efforts to support Scarborough Southwest constituents will be best served at the federal level. “I have had the honour of serving our riding for nearly eight years as the Member of Provincial Parliament at Queen’s Park, where I focused on delivering meaningful results,” Begum told Beach Metro Community News in a statement sent the week after she won the Scarborough Southwest federal byelection on Monday, April 13. “That approach remains the same as I head to Ottawa, but what has changed now is my ability to deliver from within the government. At this pivotal moment
for Canada, I believe that I can make the greatest difference for the people of Scarborough Southwest as a member of (Prime Minister) Mark Carney’s Liberal team.” Since 2018, Begum served as Scarborough Southwest’s MPP for the New Democratic Party (NDP). She was also a deputy leader for the Ontario NDP and the opposition at Queen’s Park. In February, Begum announced her transition to the Liberal Party, where she would be running in the federal byelection to fill the vacant seat left by the former Liberal MP Bill Blair, who stepped down to become Canada’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Begum secured a landslide victory over her fellow candidates with 20,114 votes (69.9 per cent of the total votes) in the byelection. Her victory, alongside Dani-
elle Martin and Tatiana Auguste – newly elected Liberal MPs for University-Rosedale and Terrebonne, Quebec – propelled the federal Liberals into a majority government position, bringing the party’s total seats in the House of Commons to 174. Begum said she is committed to working in the Carney government to help build a “strong, resilient economy while delivering real improvements in people’s everyday lives.” “At a time of growing global uncertainty and real challenges at home, Canadians are looking for steady leadership and a stable government, which Prime Minister Carney represents,” said Begum. “My primary responsibility now is to turn that trust into action by ensuring that communities like ours see the real, visible results of the decisions made federally.”
In her statement, Begum listed a number of federal initiatives expected to address issues impacting Scarborough Southwest residents, including cost of living, housing, and accessible transit. “These are all issues I care about deeply — and areas where our government can deliver real change. I am proud of the work that the Prime Minister and the new Liberal team have done over the past year to address these important issues,” she said. According to Begum, the Build Canada Homes initiative has already taken action in Scarborough Southwest, with “over $291 million invested at 777 Victoria Park Avenue” to provide 705 rental units, including 256 affordable homes, as well as an “additional $137 million” invested to provide 245 rental homes at 2 Dunelm St. Addressing the country’s cost-of-
PHOTO: MATTHEW STEPHENS
Doly Begum speaks to supporters at the Qssis Banquet Halls after winning the Scarborough Southwest federal byelection on Monday, April 13, for the Liberals.
living crisis, Begum said she will support initiatives such as middle-class tax cuts, federal funding initiatives to increase housing supply, and the latest Groceries Continued on Page 10