Scarborough - Rouge River

This Toronto riding takes in the northeastern part of the city of Scarborough. The immigrant population is almost 68 per cent. About 33 per cent of residents are Chinese and 16 per cent are Indian.

The riding stretches from Highway 401, Morningside Avenue and Sheppard Avenue East in the south to Steeles Avenue East in the north. It lies between the Pickering Town Line, Finch Avenue East and Meadowvale Road in the east and Midland Avenue, Finch Avenue East and Brimley Road in the west. It includes the Rouge Valley, the largest natural park in Metro Toronto.

Manufacturing employs the largest percentage of this riding's workforce. According to the 2006 census, the average family income is $71,113 and the unemployment rate is 8.8 per cent.

The riding was created in 1986 from 41 per cent of York-Scarborough. In the 1996 redistribution, boundaries were redrawn. In 2004, the western boundary was moved east to Brimley Road and the southeast corner of the riding moved into Pickering-Scarborough East.

Population: 130,974 (2006 census an increase of 13.5% since 2001)

Political History

Liberal Derek Lee swept the 2006 election, earning 65 per cent of the vote and defeating Conservative Jerry Bance by 20,853 votes. Lee is serving his sixth term as an MP.

In 2004, Lee was elected with nearly 58 per cent of the vote. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Lee as a 1993 candidate to avoid a nomination battle. In York Scarborough in 1984, PC Paul McCrossan defeated Liberal June Rowlands, who later became mayor of Toronto.

York Scarborough voted Conservative from 1957 to 1962 and Liberal from 1963 to 1974. In an October 1978 byelection and again in 1979, PC Paul McCrossan defeated Liberal Paul Cosgrove.

York-Scarborough:

• 1953 - LIB
• 1957, 1958, 1962 - PC
• 1963-1974 inclusive - LIB
• 1978 byelection, 1979 - PC
• 1980 - LIB
• 1984 - PC

Scarborough-Rouge River:

• Since 1988 - LIB