Neethan Shan
Neethan Shanmugarajah (Tamil: நீதன் சண்முகராஜா, romanized: Nītaṉ Caṇmukarājā; born December 24, 1978), is a Canadian politician who represented Ward 42 Scarborough—Rouge River on Toronto City Council from 2017 to 2018. Shan was the first Tamil Canadian to sit on council.
Neethan Shan | |
|---|---|
| நீதன் ஷான் | |
| Toronto District School Board Trustee for Ward 17 Scarborough Centre | |
| Assumed office June 22, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | David Smith |
| Toronto City Councillor for Ward 42 Scarborough—Rouge River | |
| In office February 13, 2017 – December 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Raymond Cho |
| Succeeded by | Ward dissolved |
| Toronto District School Board Trustee for Ward 21 Scarborough—Rouge River | |
| In office January 25, 2016 – February 13, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Shaun Chen |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Hai Patel |
| York Region District School Board Trustee for Wards 7 and 8 | |
| In office December 1, 2006 – November 30, 2010 | |
| Succeeded by | Juanita Nathan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Neethan Shanmugarajah December 24, 1978 Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka |
| Citizenship | Canadian |
| Political party | New Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Independent[note 1] (2017–2018) |
| Residence(s) | Toronto, Ontario |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto (BSc, 2001) Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (BEd, 2003; MEd, 2012) |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | neethanshan.ca |
Early life and family
Shan was born on December 24, 1978, in Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka.[1] His father was from Neduntivu and his mother from Analaitivu.[2][3] He moved to Canada as a refugee in 1995 aged 16.[1][2][4]
Shan is married to Thaadsha Navaneethan and has two sons.[4][5]
Education and early career
Shan completed an honours bachelor of science (BSc) from the University of Toronto in 2001 and a bachelor of education (BEd) from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in 2003.[1][5][6] He later received a master of education (MEd) in sociology and equity studies in education from OISE in 2012.[6]
Shan began his career as a youth outreach worker in Malvern, Toronto.[3][7] In 2001, aged 22, he became executive director of Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre (CanTYD), a social service agency.[6] He then became manager of youth programs at Malvern Family Resource Centre.[6][8][9] In 2007 he became executive director of Council of Agencies Serving South Asians.[1][6]
Shan was vice-chair of the National Council of Canadian Tamils and chair of the Tamil Heritage Month Committee, which he founded in 2009.[2][4][10] He has served numerous other community groups including Better Ballot Initiative; Boreal Institute for Civil Society (project director); Canadian Tamil Congress; Community Use of Schools Council; Malvern Community Coalition; Parent Action on Drugs (project coordinator); Scarborough Youth Task Group; Tsunami Relief Coordinating Committee; and the Youth Gang Work Group.[1][6] He is also involved with Canadian Multicultural Radio and Tamil Vision International.[1][3][6]
Political career
Public school trustee
Shan unsuccessfully ran for York Region District School Board (YRDSB) public school trustee for wards 7 and 8 in the 2003 Markham elections.[1][11] He was later elected to the school board following the 2006 Markham election.[1][12]
In January 2016, Shan was elected in a by-election to be the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) public school trustee for Ward 21 Scarborough—Rouge River.[13] Shan assumed the trustee seat for Ward 17 in June 2022 after David Smith became the MPP for Scarborough Centre.[14]
Provincial politics
Shan took a leave of absence from the YRDSB to run in the 2007 provincial election as the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate in Scarborough—Guildwood but failed to get elected and returned to the school board.[1][15] He sought the Scarborough—Rouge River seat in the 2011 Ontario general election.[1][16]
In April 2012, Shan was elected president of the Ontario New Democratic Party.[1][2][17]
Shan ran in the 2014 Ontario general election as the NDP's candidate in Scarborough—Rouge River.[1] He contested the Ontario provincial by-election in Scarborough—Rouge River held in September 2016 as the NDP's candidate but again failed to get elected.[18]
Shan was nominated as the Ontario New Democratic Party candidate in the provincial riding of Scarborough Centre for the 2022 Ontario general election, but again failed to win.
Toronto City Councillor
Shan ran in the 2010 Toronto election as a candidate for Ward 42 Scarborough—Rouge River on Toronto City Council but failed to get elected.[1][19] He ran again in the 2014 Toronto municipal election.[1][20]
In February 2017, following the resignation of Councillor Raymond Cho, the Scarborough—Rouge River seat became vacant. Running in the subsequent by-election and was elected to Toronto City Council,[21][22] becoming the first Tamil Canadian to serve on the council.[4][21] He ran for re-election in the 2018 municipal election in the new Ward 25 Scarborough—Rouge Park after the province aligned Toronto's 44 wards to match the federal and provincial electoral divisions. He was ultimately defeated by newcomer Jennifer McKelvie by 154 votes.[23]
Electoral record
Ontario Legislative Assembly
| Ontario provincial by-election, September 1, 2016: Scarborough—Rouge River Resignation of Bas Balkissoon | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Raymond Cho | 9,644 | 38.58 | +10.92 | ||||
| Liberal | Piragal Thiru | 7,257 | 28.91 | -9.79 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 6,905 | 27.40 | -3.91 | ||||
| Independent | Queenie Yu | 575 | 2.32 | |||||
| Green | Priyan De Silva | 216 | 0.86 | -0.51 | ||||
| Libertarian | Allen Small | 146 | 0.58 | |||||
| None of the Above | Above Znoneofthe | 133 | 0.54 | -0.42 | ||||
| Freedom | Wayne Simmons | 59 | 0.30 | |||||
| People's Political Party | Dwight McLean | 45 | 0.22 | |||||
| Pauper | John Turmel | 37 | 0.15 | |||||
| Trillium | Ania Krosinska | 36 | 0.14 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 25,182 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +10.36 | ||||||
| "Vote Totals Report from Official Tabulation (F0243) - 2016 By-election Scarborough-Rouge River (083)". Elections Ontario. p. 7. | ||||||||
| 2014 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Rouge River | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 16,095 | 38.71 | -3.17 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 13,019 | 31.31 | -4.66 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Raymond Cho | 11,500 | 27.66 | +8.87 | ||||
| Green | George B. Singh | 571 | 1.37 | +0.12 | ||||
| None of the Above | Amir Khan | 398 | 0.96 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 41,583 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 479 | 1.14 | ||||||
| Turnout | 42,062 | 47.48 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 88,592 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.75 | ||||||
| "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate - June 12, 2014 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2017. | ||||||||
| 2011 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Rouge River | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Bas Balkissoon | 15,237 | 41.87 | -23.18 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 13,088 | 35.97 | +22.29 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Ken Kim | 6,837 | 18.79 | +4.32 | ||||
| Libertarian | Felix Liao | 457 | 1.26 | -0.16 | ||||
| Green | George Singh | 455 | 1.25 | -2.47 | ||||
| Family Coalition | Raphael Rosch | 166 | 0.46 | -1.20 | ||||
| Freedom | Daniel Walker | 150 | 0.41 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 36,390 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 215 | 0.59 | ||||||
| Turnout | 36,605 | 42.89 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 85,338 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -22.73 | ||||||
| "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate - October 16, 2011 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-06. | ||||||||
| 2007 Ontario general election: Scarborough-Guildwood | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Margarett Best | 14,430 | 42.52 | -10.03 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Gary Grant | 9,503 | 28.00 | -1.99 | ||||
| New Democratic | Neethan Shan | 7,441 | 21.93 | +9.23 | ||||
| Green | Glenn Kitchen | 1,811 | 5.34 | |||||
| Libertarian | Sam Apelbaum | 484 | 1.43 | |||||
| Family Coalition | Daniel Carvalho | 267 | 0.79 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 33,936 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Difference | 4,927 | 14.52 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 376 | 1.10 | ||||||
| Turnout | 34,312 | 51.28 | ||||||
| Liberal notional hold | Swing | -4.02 | ||||||
| "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate - October 10, 2007 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. xxiii. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 6, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2017. | ||||||||
Toronto City Council
| Toronto City Council election, 2018 Ward 25 (Scarborough—Rouge Park)[24] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Jennifer McKelvie | 11,624 | 40.21% | |
| Neethan Shan | 11,470 | 39.68% | |
| Paul Cookson | 1,897 | 6.56% | |
| Amanda Cain | 831 | 2.87% | |
| Cheryl Lewis-Thurab | 638 | 2.21% | |
| Reza Khoshdel | 548 | 1.90% | |
| Daniel Cubellis | 527 | 1.82% | |
| Christopher Riley | 456 | 1.58% | |
| Joseph Thomas | 428 | 1.48% | |
| Jasper Ghori | 337 | 1.17% | |
| Dave Madder | 151 | 0.52% | |
| Total | 10,432 | 100.00% | |
| Toronto City Council by-election, February 13, 2017 Ward 42 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[25] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Neethan Shan | 4,765 | 45.68% |
| Zuhair Syed | 1,452 | 13.92% |
| Hratch Aynedjian | 1,058 | 10.14% |
| Dipika Patel | 474 | 4.54% |
| Punch Sockalingam | 416 | 3.99% |
| Bev Dixon | 354 | 3.39% |
| Knia Singh | 324 | 3.11% |
| Kingsley Kwok | 322 | 3.09% |
| Sarah Chung | 241 | 2.31% |
| Ferduse Bari | 220 | 2.11% |
| Virginia Jones | 157 | 1.51% |
| David Nissan | 105 | 1.01% |
| Amanda Cain | 96 | 0.92% |
| Randy Washington | 71 | 0.68% |
| Stella Kargiannakis | 69 | 0.66% |
| Sohum Prashar | 33 | 0.32% |
| Mark Balack | 30 | 0.29% |
| John Kladitis | 30 | 0.29% |
| Mohammad Shabani | 30 | 0.29% |
| Deborah Dale | 29 | 0.28% |
| Khamy Ganeshathasan | 27 | 0.26% |
| Kevin Clarke | 25 | 0.24% |
| Sandeep Srivastava | 24 | 0.23% |
| Jobin Jose | 18 | 0.17% |
| Chai Kalevar | 14 | 0.13% |
| Arthur Smitherman | 14 | 0.13% |
| Elizabeth Huff | 11 | 0.11% |
| Aasia Khatoon | 6 | 0.06% |
| Tebat Kadhem | 3 | 0.03% |
| Total | 10,432 | 100.00% |
| Toronto City Council election, 2014 Ward 42 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[26] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Raymond Cho | 11,768 | 49.46% |
| Neethan Shan | 7,393 | 31.07% |
| Ken Jeffers | 1,074 | 4.51% |
| Gulam Mohamed | 1,048 | 4.40% |
| Neethan Sabaratnam | 911 | 3.83% |
| Sherri-Anne Williams | 521 | 2.19% |
| Dwayne Chin | 363 | 1.53% |
| Kabirul Mollah | 279 | 1.17% |
| Somu Mondal | 233 | 0.98% |
| Ganesh Kulasegarampillai | 107 | 0.45% |
| Venthan Ramana | 96 | 0.40% |
| Total | 23,793 | 100.00% |
| Toronto City Council election, 2010 Ward 42 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[27] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Raymond Cho | 10,811 | 52.93% |
| Neethan Shan | 6,873 | 33.65% |
| Shamoon Poonawala | 586 | 2.87% |
| Mohammed Ather | 474 | 2.32% |
| Namu Ponnambalam | 443 | 2.17% |
| Ruth Tecle | 437 | 2.14% |
| George Singh | 353 | 1.73% |
| Leon Saul | 323 | 1.58% |
| Venthan Ramanathavavuniyan | 125 | 0.61% |
| Total | 20,425 | 100.00% |
Toronto District School Board
| Toronto District School Board by-election, January 25, 2016 Ward 21 (Scarborough—Rouge River)[28] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Neethan Shan | 4,197 | 53.63% |
| Jack Wang | 1,258 | 16.07% |
| Kwesi Johnson | 408 | 5.21% |
| George Lin | 298 | 3.81% |
| Arjun Sahota | 266 | 3.40% |
| Yama Arianfar | 255 | 3.26% |
| Noah Ng | 184 | 2.35% |
| Sonny Yeung | 154 | 1.97% |
| Sharon Kerr | 153 | 1.96% |
| Ron McNaughton | 146 | 1.87% |
| Piravena Sathiyanantham | 121 | 1.55% |
| Aasia Khatoon | 103 | 1.32% |
| Kabirul Mollah | 59 | 0.75% |
| Andy Nguyen | 43 | 0.55% |
| Simone Si | 41 | 0.52% |
| Dwight McLean | 35 | 0.45% |
| Sahl Syed | 29 | 0.37% |
| Austin Han | 28 | 0.36% |
| Sandeep Srivastava | 25 | 0.32% |
| Kuga Kasilingam | 23 | 0.29% |
| Total | 7,826 | 100.00% |
York Region District School Board
| York Region District School Board election, 2006 Area 4 (Wards 7 and 8)[29] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Neethan Shan | 8,230 | 66.23% |
| Susie Gotha | 4,197 | 33.77% |
| Total | 12,427 | 100.00% |
| York Region District School Board election, 2003 Area 4 (Wards 7 and 8)[30] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % |
| Tessa Benn-Ireland | ||
| Neethan Shan | ||
| Kumar Nadarajah | ||
| Total | ||
References
- Smith Cross, Jessica (May 27, 2016). "Profile: The making of the NDP's 'perennial candidate' Neethan Shan". QP Briefing.
- "Eezham Tamil activist Neethan Shan elected President of NDP, Ontario". TamilNet. April 16, 2012.
- Nathaniel, Camelia (May 18, 2014). "Canada May Be Hoist By Her Own Petard". The Sunday Leader.
- DaSilva, Laura (February 24, 2017). "Meet Neethan Shan, Toronto's first Tamil-Canadian councillor". CBC News.
- "Neethan Shan". The Toronto Star. 2007-08-15. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- "Neethan Shan Nominated to Represent Ontario NDP in Scarborough Rouge River". Seithy. December 17, 2013.
- Balikssoon, Denise (May 17, 2010). "Malvern group works to get out the October vote". Toronto Star.
- Stuffco, Jered (December 1, 2005). "Man who motivates Malvern gets award". The Globe and Mail.
- "A Community Activist "Stands" for Equitable, Safe, Well-rounded and Community-involved Education". Tamil Canadian. January 3, 2006.
- "Tamil Heritage Month Bill Proposed in Canadian Parliament". TamilNet. February 6, 2013.
- Keung, Nicholas (October 26, 2003). "Tamils finding their niche in Toronto politics". The Island (Sri Lanka).
- "Diaspora Tamil elected councillor in Markham, Canada". TamilNet. November 18, 2006.
- Rushowy, Kristin (2016-01-25). "Union-backed candidate wins TDSB byelection in Scarborough". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- Cohen, Ben (June 2, 2022). "New MPP David Smith continues PC hold on Scarborough Centre". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- Lakey, Jack (October 11, 2007). "Scarborough Guildwood: Best puts foot forward as new MPP". Toronto Star.
- Monsebraaten, Laurie (October 6, 2011). "Balkissoon rolls to win". Toronto Star.
- Regg Cohn, Martin (April 14, 2012). "Cohn: NDP's Andrea Horwath breaks convention and exhorts idea of change". Toronto Star.
- Benzie, Robert (September 1, 2016). "Tory Raymond Cho wins Scarborough-Rouge River byelection". Toronto Star.
- "Results: Toronto mayor and city council". Toronto Star. October 25, 2010.
- Allen, Kate (October 27, 2014). "Raymond Cho reelected in Ward 42, Scarborough—Rouge River". Toronto Star.
- Powell, Betsy (February 13, 2017). "Neethan Shan wins council seat in Scarborough-Rouge River". Toronto Star.
- Houston, Andrea (2017-02-14). "Neethan Shan is Now a City Councillor, But Will He Stay Put?". Torontoist. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- Hayes, Molly; Friesen, Joe; Gibson, Victoria (2018-10-22). "A look at the 2018 Toronto election results, ward by ward". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- "Clerk's Official Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
- "February 13, 2017 By-Election 2014 Poll by Poll Results: Councillor Ward 42" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
- "Toronto Election 2014 Poll by Poll Results: Councillor" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
- "2010 Poll by Poll Results: Councillor" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
- "2016 By-election Toronto District School Board Ward 21: Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
- "York Region District School Board - Ward 7 and 8 - Official Results". Markham City Council.
- "Markham 2003 Municipal Elections: Registered Candidates". Markham City Council. Archived from the original on October 7, 2006.
Notes
- Municipal politicians are elected on a non-partisan basis in Ontario.