When Active Marketplace opened a few months ago, the mayor and the town council were not able to make it to the unofficial opening due to COVID restrictions. Now that things are a bit better, Mayor Shaun Collier took the opportunity to officially open the site of Ajax’s newest flea market.

Ward 2 Councillor Ashmeed Khan, who served as the master of ceremonies for the day, said that the hurdles that the marketplace had to overcome in order to open, and the assistance of the city in getting the location open in the middle of the pandemic, no small feat. 

Mayor Collier in addressing the crowd thanked Mr. Malik for bringing this opportunity to Ajax and for making this investment in our great town. He talked about the importance of small business and how important small businesses are to the town. With over 2,000 small businesses here in Ajax , she said that “they are the lifeblood of the town”.

“During this time of COVID it has been so difficult. So when I heard about the opening here and what a great job that was done in starting this venture, I said that the town must do  everything that we can to support this venture; all the pictures that we have taken today we are going to put up on social media to tell people about this Great Adventure. And I thank you for the opportunity to be here and I’d like to give this plaque to Mr Malik on behalf of the town of Ajax to the Active Marketplace, the mayor said.

Councillor Rob Tyler-Moore said that the work starts after the grand opening, “we will continue to spread the word about this Market we will continue to talk to the vendors. If you ever need anything please feel free to reach out to me. We will look very hard on getting this place to be the place to be in the Ajax.”

Ashmead said when Mr. Malik came to Ajax, he intended to open an electronic store but he was approached by the vendors who were displaced by the Pickering Flea Market and asked if he could open a flea market here in Ajax; so Malik gave up his dream of having a second electronic store in order for the vendors to have their dream in our community, most of the people here are new immigrants and small business owners who have my support.”

The MP for Scarborough Center Miss Selma Zahid said that she wanted to thank Mr. Malik for bringing so many jobs Under One Roof and providing opportunities to so many business people especially during the pandemic to come and be at the table. As a Member of Parliament  we have been there to support our small businesses because we realize that it was bad for our community and economy. For the economy to rebound we need our small businesses to be successful; that’s why we provided support to businesses to make sure that they have the lights on during the darkest hours. As we said goodbye to Small Business Week this is a great opportunity to come together and congratulate Zahid Malik for all he has done for the community here in Durham Region and in Scarborough. We shall continue this work to make sure that no one is left behind.

The evening ended with prizes being awarded to several people who were invited to the event.