Meet Neethan Shan, Toronto's first Tamil-Canadian councillor

NeethanShanis still getting used to calling Ward 42 "hisward."

On Monday, hebeat 28 other candidates and won the council seat in theScarborough-RougeRiver byelection.

• Neethan Shan wins Ward 42 Scarborough-Rouge River municipal byelection

The public school board trustee, who has run for public office more than 10 times in the last 14 years, said the road to victory has been a long one.

"As aracializedperson, a young person who came here as a refugee, to advocate for change has taken a lot of effort and a lot of time and a lot of hard work," he said.

A champion of equity

Shan, who immigrated to Canada from Sri Lanka when he was 16, wants to quash anequity problem in Toronto he calls the "elephant in the room."

He saidScarboroughis full of visible minorities who contribute economically, socially and culturally, and offer unique skill sets and expertise, but are stuck working minimum-wage jobs.

"My role is to champion equity so that people of all colours, regardless of where they come from, are able to have equal opportunities and equal outcomes," he said.

Doing the Tamil community proud

Shan, who is backed by the NDP, explained Toronto has the largest population of Tamil people in Canada, many who have fled war.

"For us to come and be in a country where we've gotten the opportunity to succeed and to be able to become a political representative, is a milestone that we are all celebrating together," he said.

Shan, who founded Tamil Heritage Month in 2009, said being the first Tamil-Canadian to be elected to Toronto city councilissymbolic of the "growth, hard work and resilience" in the community.

"The Tamil community wants me to make them proud by serving all diverse communities," he said. "They have given me that responsibility."

Infrastructure a top priority

ShansaidScarborough, and Ward 42, have been "neglected" for far too long.

"In our neighbourhood, there are thousands of children under the age of 12, but no library or community centre in the area," he said. "We feel we're not getting a fair share of the resources to build the kind of infrastructure that can keep our society cohesive and productive."

Shanhas been pushing for theBloor-Danforthsubway line to be extended toScarboroughTown Centre. "It's important for us to get the shovels on the ground and get the project moving," he said. "This should have been done many years ago."

He also wants theScarboroughLRT to be extended farther north from the University of Toronto's Scarboroughcampus toMalvern, another "underserved" area.

When the tie comes off

Shanlives in his ward and after a late night at the office, hegoes for the all-day breakfast specials at his favourite local dinerMarkhamStation with his wife and two young sons. China Cottage andBabuCatering are other go-to dinner spots.

When he manages to get an evening off, the self-proclaimed movie buff heads to a local theatre to watch Tamil and Hindi films. "I spend a lot of time checking out the cultural side of things," he said.

Shanwill be officially sworn into office in the coming weeks. In the meantime?

"I'm looking forward to catching up on some of the family time that I've lost and spending time with my kids," he said.