The beauty of Milliken’s ‘multicultural hodge-podge’

A reminder that it is in neighbourhoods like this one that highlight how multiculturalism in Canada works in practice:

Helen Stratigos’ eyes light up when she talks about her neighbourhood.

For the last 15 years, she’s been living in Milliken – a north Scarborough community on the Markham border that’s a “multicultural hodge-podge” home to mostly first and second-generation immigrants, where only 25 per cent of the population was born in Canada.

“People here are proud to be Canadian – they love to be Canadian – but they retain their cultural identity,” says Stratigos, 43. “And that’s something that’s part of your soul, part of your roots.”

Stratigos, a full-time mom with two daughters aged 6 and 15, comes from a Filipina-Greek background and says most of the Milliken community comes from mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

On this July afternoon, she’s leading the Star on a tour of the neighbourhood, pointing out the community’s lush parkland, authentic Asian cuisine and welcoming atmosphere for newcomers to Canada.

“Every time I step out my door, I’m getting an education in world cultures and world religions,” Stratigos says.

The beauty of Milliken’s ‘multicultural hodge-podge’ | Toronto Star.