A city-backed plan to build a recreation centre for Toronto’s Somali community is facing an uncertain future, after fierce backlash from residents who have enlisted Premier Doug Ford in their fight to stop the project coming to their neighbourhood.
The group behind the proposal to construct a Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation (SCCR) in Etobicoke’s Buttonwood Park says it would be the culmination of a decades-long effort to carve out space for a Black community that has endured discrimination and lacks access to public amenities.
From left, Zakaria Abdulle, Abdifatah Hussein, Halla Ahmed, Deqa Egal, Rihana Mohamed and Hamdi Ali are working to establish a Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation in Toronto, which they say will provide important opportunities for the Somali community and other residents.
Christina Manulak, president of the Buttonwood Hill Residents Association, said she and her neighbours have been “working day and night” against the plan.
The group behind the proposal to construct a Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation (SCCR) in Etobicoke’s Buttonwood Park says it would be the culmination of a decades-long effort to carve out space for a Black community that has endured discrimination and lacks access to public amenities.