Provincial Byelection 2026: Scarborough Southwest NDP candidate Fatima Shaban answers our questions

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Beach Metro Community News sent these questions to the seven candidates in this month’s Scarborough Southwest provincial byelection. We gave them a deadline to respond and are publishing the answers from the five candidates who sent them in by the deadline The seven candidates running in the Sept. 3 provincial byelection in Scarborough Southwest are Mark Bekkering of the Green Party; Gord Elliott of the Ontario Party; Ahsanul Hafiz of the Liberal Party; Independent candidate Michael Perdelwitz; Chris Rees of the New Blue Party; Fatima Shaban of the New Democratic Party; and Noor Tarun of the Progressive Conservative Party. Please visit our website at www.beachmetro.com for more information on the candidates.)

QUESTION 1: Please tell our readers a little bit about yourself and why you are running in this byelection?

Scarborough is my home. I’ve raised my family here, and my deep roots in this community have energized me to stand up and fight for its fair share.

After attending SATEC at W.A. Porter Collegiate Institute, I studied economics, criminology and political science at the University of Toronto. In the years since, I’ve spent my time finding ways to help my community, and uplift the people around me.

After seeing the state of our schools thanks to Doug Ford’s cuts, I got involved in working on a school council to fight for better funding. When my neighbours were hit with an unfair rent hike, I helped them fight back. When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, she waited months for tests, and then for treatment. Sadly, she passed waiting for the care she needed. I made a promise to myself that I would fight every single day to make sure other families in Scarborough Southwest would not face the same heartbreak.

I will not stop until people in our community have the things they need, when they need them. When I see something that needs to change, I step up and get things done. Now, I’m ready to join Marit Stiles at Queen’s Park to fight for you and your family and get Scarborough Southwest their fair share.

QUESTION 2: What do you see as the top local issues that will be on the minds of Scarborough Southwest voters into this provincial byelection?

I’ve had thousands of conversations at peoples’ doors this year, and the number one issue I hear about is affordability.

Families are struggling to put food on the table and still pay their rent or mortgage. They’re excited about our NDP proposals to remove taxes on all food and drink, and to ban surveillance pricing, and they can’t understand why Doug Ford voted against things that would have put money back in their pocket.

People tell me about the need for more funding in our schools. They’re worried about the health of the buildings in which their children are learning, and that there are not enough teachers to give their kids the attention they deserve.

I also hear a lot of deep concern about healthcare. There are 20,000 people in Scarborough Southwest who can’t find a family doctor. There is no hospital in this riding, and the closest hospital – Scarborough General – is operating at 200 per cent capacity.

People are very worried that Doug Ford is opening the door for the privatization of our healthcare system. They know this will lead to only the wealthy getting quality, timely care. That is not the promise of Canadian healthcare. The people of our community deserve better.

It is a question of priorities. We will fight for more family doctors, for more doctors, nurses and health care professionals to be recruited to work in our hospitals. And we will fight for improvements to the systems that allow foreign trained doctors to become certified to practice in Canada. Doug Ford and his government have made it more difficult for doctors to navigate their bureaucracy rather than help them begin to care for people in our community. That has to change, and I will not stop until it does.

QUESTION 3: With this byelection taking place just a few days before school starts up again, what measures will you and your party take to address concerns regarding public education funding not only across the province but also for the specific and unique needs of schools and students in Toronto?

For eight years, Doug Ford and his government have underfunded our education system, and we’re seeing the effects in no uncertain terms. Kids are packed into massive class sizes, with not enough teachers to give them the attention they deserve. The crisis is even more profound in special education, where parents and educators are struggling with little support from the government.

School buildings are aging. The government hasn’t kept up with maintenance and they are not building new schools that our kids need.
Our children deserve better than to be going to school in crumbling buildings with overcrowded classrooms.

I will fight for Scarborough families, so their kids can get the education they deserve, with enough teachers to give them attention, in buildings that are safe.

QUESTION 4: Please let our readers know how you and your party can increase the amount of truly affordable housing in Scarborough Southwest and how it can be built more quickly?

Under Doug Ford, Ontario is building new housing at the lowest rate in Canada. You can’t solve the housing crisis if you’re not building homes, and the private market won’t solve this problem either.

The NDP’s Homes Ontario plan, calls for us to build hundreds of thousands of permanently affordable homes, mobilize public land to get them built faster, and make sure that we’re serving people, not corporate profits.

By prioritizing providers of non-market, non-profit, co-op, and supportive housing, we won’t just build affordable homes: we’ll create good union jobs in the process, and strengthen our economy. Housing is a human right, and affordable housing allows people to join the workforce and contribute to our economy. The NDP is the only party with a bold vision to solve this crisis for Scarborough, and all of Ontario.