Jean Yip, one of the newer members of Parliament (MP) representing the Toronto riding of Scarborough-Agincourt, has embraced the deep roots she has in her community. A lifelong resident of Scarborough-Agincourt, she has witnessed its evolution from a quiet village with a handful of Chinese-Canadian families to an ethnically diverse and inclusive metropolis. 

“I work very hard for the people of Scarborough-Agincourt,” Liberal MP Yip told CAIFU Friday, September 7, 2018. “I am committed to this riding, and this hard-working community.”

Ties to Canada and China

Yip’s parents were both born in China – her mother is from Shanghai, while her father was born in Canton, Guangdong and spent his formative years in Hong Kong as a police clerk. They met thousands of miles away in Canada at the University of Toronto where her father was studying engineering as a mature student, and her mother was a nurse.

“My immigrant experience in Canada is a little different than others,” she continued. “I was more Canadianized.”

Yip said she was born in Scarborough, then a borough east of Toronto, and raised in Agincourt, a neighbourhood in Scarborough. Her family was one of the few Chinese families in Agincourt while she was growing up. Now, the makeup of Scarborough-Agincourt is predominately comprised of East and South Asian immigrants.

Her childhood was filled with both Chinese and Canadian traditions. Yip vividly recalled going to Toronto’s Chinatown on Dundas Street when she was young to visit her grandmother’s hair studio, and then to eat lunch at a Chinese barbecue shop.

Yip said she grew up surrounded by her parents’ values of hard work, family and compassion. “Life was simpler then. My parents raised us to be proud to be Chinese,” she continued. “They instilled healthy eating habits and keeping fit with daily physical activity. Every weekend, my father and I ran on the track at our local school.”

She said she now instills these values with her three teenage sons Nathaniel, Ethan and Theo she raised with her late husband, Liberal MP Arnold Chan. “A healthy body equals a healthy mind,” she added.

Partnership in Local Politics

Yip followed in her parents’ footsteps and also studied at the University of Toronto, earning a bachelor’s degree in labour management relations and sociology. She then pursued a career in insurance and underwriting, but she has always been involved in politics and public service. She met Chan at a Liberal nomination meeting, and they married four years afterward.  

During their 19-year marriage, Yip helped Chan take care of the riding, so community members were familiar with her before she ran for MP in December 2017. “I represented Chan in more and more events while he went through his cancer journey,” she continued. “If there’s a chance to give back, I would.”

After Chan’s death in September 2017, Yip continued his legacy by winning the federal byelection three months later, becoming the next Liberal MP to represent Scarborough-Agincourt. “Staying in politics reminds me of Arnold,” she said. “It brings me good feelings, and I’m trying to make a difference.”

Yip noted she represents the most diverse community in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). While around 20 percent of Toronto’s Chinese population lives in Scarborough neighbourhoods Steeles, Milliken and Agincourt North, her riding also includes Canadians with the following ethnic origins: Armenian, Filipino, Greek, Italian, Jamaican, Moroccan, Muslim and Tamil (Sri Lanka), according to 2016 census data compiled by Statistics Canada.

Yip’s platform is centred on health care issues – from mental health initiatives to seniors’ concerns. One of her passions is supporting the HF Connecting Health Clinic, which provides a full range of health services in Cantonese, English, Mandarin and Tamil – Scarborough’s most-spoken languages. Its mission is for community members to have access to affordable, high quality, culturally and linguistically appropriate care in a timely manner.

“The Scarborough-Agincourt community is fortunate to have one of the two nurse practitioner-led clinics in the GTA,” she explained. “Their work is meaningful, and it’s important to support what they do.”

Giving Back

One particular project Chan championed during his tenure as MP is the Bridletowne Community Hub, a project that will bring together community services and health care providers for members of the Agincourt neighbourhood.

Once completed, the 100,000-square-foot facility will combine an extension of the Scarborough hospital, along with United Way and a YMCA. Its community programs will include health and fitness classes, aquatics, camp programs and child care, reported the Toronto Star. Patients with kidney diseases can also visit the site’s dialysis clinic.

“The Bridletowne Community Hub is an example of providing the right kind of services in an innovative and thoughtful way,” wrote Toronto Mayor John Tory in a tweet on August 30, 2017.

Chan had pushed to get the hub federal funding while he was alive. Yip has vowed to pick up the baton and support the effort as MP of Scarborough-Agincourt. “The Bridletowne Community Hub is still in the planning stages, but it will have so many different services under one roof,” she said. “It was an important project for Arnold; it’s an important project for me.”

In addition, Yip is focused on youth engagement. She has spearheaded the creation of the Scarborough-Agincourt Constituency Youth Council, but she has insisted the young adults lead the agenda. Their most recent project in September 2018 was Community Park Clean-Up Day, where the Youth Council picked up plastic bags, debris and takeout Styrofoam to protect the environment.

“It was wonderful to engage with this bright and curious group of youth,” she wrote on the group’s Facebook page in July 2018. “I look forward to open debates and working together on community projects to make Scarborough-Agincourt a better place.”

Future Legacy

Reflecting back on her life and career, Yip said motherhood is one of her biggest accomplishments. One son is currently studying at the post-secondary level, while two of her sons are attending high school in the Scarborough-Agincourt area. “My goal is to launch my kids successfully into the real world,” she added.

Looking ahead, Yip said she hopes to strengthen ties between government and small businesses in Scarborough-Agincourt and continue to engage with constituents in her community of all ages. Above all, she wants to make a difference in the lives of families.

“Residents of Scarborough-Agincourt have a comfortable, peaceful community to live in,” she concluded. “I hope to help them live in a safe and secure environment to raise children and to retire in.”