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Neethan Shan

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Neethan Shan
நீதன் ஷான்
Toronto District School Board Trustee for Ward 17 Scarborough Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 22, 2022
Preceded byDavid Smith
Toronto City Councillor
for Ward 42 Scarborough—Rouge River
In office
February 13, 2017 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byRaymond Cho
Succeeded byWard dissolved
Toronto District School Board Trustee for Ward 21 Scarborough—Rouge River
In office
January 25, 2016 – February 13, 2017
Preceded byShaun Chen
Succeeded byAbdul Hai Patel
York Region District School Board Trustee for Wards 7 and 8
In office
December 1, 2006 – November 30, 2010
Succeeded byJuanita Nathan
Personal details
Born
Neethan Shanmugarajah

(1978-12-24) December 24, 1978 (age 45)
Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka
CitizenshipCanadian
Political partyNew Democratic
Other political
affiliations		Independent[note 1] (2017–2018) Liberal Party of Canada (2003-2007)
SpouseThadsha Navaneethan
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario
Alma materUniversity of Toronto (BSc, 2001)
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (BEd, 2003; MEd, 2012)
Occupation
  • Youth worker
  • politician
Websiteneethanshan.ca

Neethan Shanmugarajah (Neethan Shan) (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 February 2017 to November 2018. Shan was the first Tamil Canadian to sit on Toronto's City Council. Shan is currently the Chair of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Shan was elected to the TDSB in 2016 and again in 2022. Shan has sought public office 13 times since 2003; 8 of which were municipally and provincially, 5. He won 4 times: YRDSB Trustee in 2006, TDSB Trustee in 2016, Toronto City Councillor in 2017 and TDSB Trustee in 2022.

Early life and family

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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 Thadsha Navaneethan and has two sons.[4][5] She was a candidate for the Ontario NDP in 2023.

Education and early career

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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

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Public school trustee

[edit]

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

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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

[edit]

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

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Ontario Legislative Assembly

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2022 Ontario general election: Scarborough Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative David Smith 11,471 35.99 −2.46 $20,592
Liberal Mazhar Shafiq 9,678 30.37 +8.23 $96,601
New Democratic Neethan Shan 8,358 26.23 −7.14 $59,477
Green Fatima Faruq 892 2.80 +0.48 $381
Libertarian Serge Korovitsyn 392 1.23 −1.39 $84
New Blue Hidie Jaber 355 1.11   $1,292
Ontario Party Raphael Rosch 297 0.93   $887
Independent Kostadinos Stefanis 196 0.62   $0
Independent Paul Beatty 156 0.49   $579
Moderate Maria Tzvetanova 74 0.23   $0
Total valid votes/expense limit 31,869 99.22 +0.33 $109,001
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots 251 0.78 −0.33
Turnout 32,120 41.25 −11.94
Eligible voters 77,114
Progressive Conservative hold Swing −5.34
Source(s)
  • "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18.
  • "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21.
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

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Smith Cross, Jessica (May 27, 2016). "Profile: The making of the NDP's 'perennial candidate' Neethan Shan". QP Briefing.
  2. ^ a b c d "Eezham Tamil activist Neethan Shan elected President of NDP, Ontario". TamilNet. April 16, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Nathaniel, Camelia (May 18, 2014). "Canada May Be Hoist By Her Own Petard". The Sunday Leader.
  4. ^ a b c d DaSilva, Laura (February 24, 2017). "Meet Neethan Shan, Toronto's first Tamil-Canadian councillor". CBC News.
  5. ^ a b "Neethan Shan". The Toronto Star. 2007-08-15. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Neethan Shan Nominated to Represent Ontario NDP in Scarborough Rouge River". Seithy. December 17, 2013.
  7. ^ Balikssoon, Denise (May 17, 2010). "Malvern group works to get out the October vote". Toronto Star.
  8. ^ Stuffco, Jered (December 1, 2005). "Man who motivates Malvern gets award". The Globe and Mail.
  9. ^ "A Community Activist "Stands" for Equitable, Safe, Well-rounded and Community-involved Education". Tamil Canadian. January 3, 2006.
  10. ^ "Tamil Heritage Month Bill Proposed in Canadian Parliament". TamilNet. February 6, 2013.
  11. ^ Keung, Nicholas (October 26, 2003). "Tamils finding their niche in Toronto politics". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  12. ^ "Diaspora Tamil elected councillor in Markham, Canada". TamilNet. November 18, 2006.
  13. ^ Rushowy, Kristin (2016-01-25). "Union-backed candidate wins TDSB byelection in Scarborough". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  14. ^ Cohen, Ben (June 2, 2022). "New MPP David Smith continues PC hold on Scarborough Centre". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  15. ^ Lakey, Jack (October 11, 2007). "Scarborough Guildwood: Best puts foot forward as new MPP". Toronto Star.
  16. ^ Monsebraaten, Laurie (October 6, 2011). "Balkissoon rolls to win". Toronto Star.
  17. ^ Regg Cohn, Martin (April 14, 2012). "Cohn: NDP's Andrea Horwath breaks convention and exhorts idea of change". Toronto Star.
  18. ^ Benzie, Robert (September 1, 2016). "Tory Raymond Cho wins Scarborough-Rouge River byelection". Toronto Star.
  19. ^ "Results: Toronto mayor and city council". Toronto Star. October 25, 2010.
  20. ^ Allen, Kate (October 27, 2014). "Raymond Cho reelected in Ward 42, Scarborough—Rouge River". Toronto Star.
  21. ^ a b Powell, Betsy (February 13, 2017). "Neethan Shan wins council seat in Scarborough-Rouge River". Toronto Star.
  22. ^ Houston, Andrea (2017-02-14). "Neethan Shan is Now a City Councillor, But Will He Stay Put?". Torontoist. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ "Clerk's Official Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
  25. ^ "February 13, 2017 By-Election 2014 Poll by Poll Results: Councillor Ward 42" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
  26. ^ "Toronto Election 2014 Poll by Poll Results: Councillor" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
  27. ^ "2010 Poll by Poll Results: Councillor" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
  28. ^ "2016 By-election Toronto District School Board Ward 21: Declaration of Results" (PDF). Toronto City Council.
  29. ^ "York Region District School Board - Ward 7 and 8 - Official Results". Markham City Council.
  30. ^ "Markham 2003 Municipal Elections: Registered Candidates". Markham City Council. Archived from the original on October 7, 2006.

Notes

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  1. ^ Municipal politicians are elected on a non-partisan basis in Ontario.
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