In my first placement, I got the opportunity to work with MPP Billy Pang who represents Markham-Unionville and was the Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism.
Markham-Unionville is a riding directly North of Toronto and can be accessed through TTC buses. The riding itself includes Unionville, one of the oldest towns in the GTA. The riding has an almost 87% Chinese population and the main language spoken outside of English and French is Cantonese. The riding includes the Markville Mall, a new incoming York University Campus, and many of the main lines of York Regional Transit. Many of the riding’s issues revolve around rights/opportunities for new immigrants, housing development and improving infrastructure for the ever-growing population.
MPP Billy Pang’s work with his constituents is his top priority. I attended many events in Markham related to Christmas and Chinese New Year which helped me to learn more about the people of Markham-Unionville and their relationship to MPP Pang. I helped to organize meetings to be run in English and Mandarin as well as a senior’s grant information session to help Chinese seniors in the riding access government aids through non-profit organizations. I was so grateful to learn about the challenges of the riding and highlighting the ways to make politics more accessible to immigrants in Canada. This experience also taught me about how to write for a political audience and write succinctly on complicated research topics to help assist an MPP’s daily activities.
Thank you MPP Pang for your support! Special thanks to the constituency office team, Conni, Larry, Dickson, and Gary who guided me throughout the experience. Their generosity and kindness were evident throughout my placement, and I appreciate them welcoming me to their office.
