Jim Karygiannis ：The Lesson We Didn‘t Learn From SARS

Jim Karygiannis ，Councillor, Ward 22 Scarborough-Agincourt：The Lesson We Didn‘t Learn From SARS -  In recent weeks, Toronto has been gripped by a type of fear it has not felt in almost 17 years.

When SARS arrived in 2003, I was the Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt – ground zero in Canada. The Scarborough Grace Hospital, in the heart of the riding, was the hotbed of the virus.

The SARS outbreak was the biggest test that Scarborough-Agincourt had ever faced. People stockpiled supplies and did not leave their homes for weeks on end. Community doctors were fighting to save patients. Two of my staff were placed in quarantine, after visiting the Scarborough Grace in the early days of the outbreak.

Many of my Chinese constituents bore the brunt of public fear and anger, facing discrimination and racial slurs directed at them. Local Chinese businesses faced a significant downturn in business.

In 2003, I received many messages from Chinese-Canadian constituents expressing their sadness at becoming the subject of xenophobia and discrimination. To help mitigate the backlash, I worked with community stakeholders by holding town halls and encouraging support of local businesses.

17 years later, in the face of the Novel Coronavirus outbreak, Toronto residents are understandably frightened.

This time, Canada was ready. I have received personal assurances from the doctors at the Scarborough Grace Hospital that they were ready and prepared for any potential coronavirus outbreak.

I am disappointed to see the re-emergence of behaviours that I thought we left behind in 2003. It appears that we have not learned from the past that, in times of need, we have to work together. Actions such as leaving nasty comments on social media, or enforcing stereotypes, at the expense of Chinese community members, are not ways to deal with this issue. Medically, we were ready, but we still have a lot to learn about facing community issues together.

Today, as in 2003, I stand with the residents of Scarborough-Agincourt as we support each other in this time of need.

I urge all Torontonians to:

•   Source facts from the official Public Health Agencies;

•   Maintain a high level of personal hygiene;

•   Don‘t listen to or spread rumours; and,

•   Be good to one another.

In the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, we have 「nothing to fear but fear itself」.

詹嘉禮市議員：我們沒有從非典中汲取教訓

近幾周，多倫多人心驚肉跳，被近17年來從未有過的恐懼所籠罩。當非典於2003年到來時，我是士嘉堡——愛靜閣（Scarborough-Agincourt）的國會議員，當時此地是加拿大非典的病源地。士嘉堡慈恩醫院處於本區的中心，也是該病毒的溫床。

非典爆發是士嘉堡——愛靜閣曾經面臨的最大考驗。人們團積物資，並且連續數周不出家門。社區醫生當時為拯救患者而戰。我的兩名員工在疫情爆發初期參觀了士嘉堡慈恩醫院後被隔離。

我許多華裔選民首當其衝，承受著公眾對他們恐懼和憤怒的衝擊，面對著針對他們的侮辱和種族的歧視。中國本地企業面臨著重大的業務下滑。

2003年，我收到了許多加拿大華裔選民的信息，他們對自己成為仇外情緒和歧視的對象表示感到悲傷。為了減輕衝突，我與社區利益相關者一起舉辦了會議，並鼓勵支持當地企業。

17年後，面對新型冠狀病毒的爆發，多倫多居民對病毒的害怕是可以理解的。

這次，加拿大已經準備好了。我得到了士嘉堡慈恩醫院醫生的親自保證，他們已經準備好應對任何可能性的冠狀病毒的爆發。

我很失望地看到我以為我們留在2003年的行為卻再次出現了。看來我們並沒有從過往學會在危難時我們必須共同努力。諸如在社交媒體上發表惡心的評論，或對華人社區成員存有成見並犧牲其利益等行為，這都不是解決這一問題的方法。在醫學上，我們已經做好了準備，但我們仍然需要學習很多有關共同面對社區問題的知識。

今天，與2003年一樣，我與士嘉堡——愛靜閣（Scarborough-Agincourt）的居民站在一起，在這個時候我們應該相互支持。

我敦促所有多倫多居民：

-從官方公共衛生機構獲取事實；

-高度保持個人衛生；

-不要聽信或散布謠言；及，

-對其他人的態度要友好。

用富蘭克林·羅斯福（Franklin D. Roosevelt）的話說，我們「沒有什麼可害怕的，唯一值得恐懼的就是恐懼本身。」