Diaspora Tamil elected councillor in Markham, Canada

[TamilNet, Saturday, 18 November 2006, 00:57 GMT]
Logan Kanapathi, a Tamil Canadian has been elected Markham City Councillor in Canada’s Ontario wide Municipal Council elections held last Monday November 13, 2006. Toronto Star described his victory as “a new face for a new era." “Kanapathi achieved what no other Tamil Canadian had ever done: get elected to public office,” the paper said.

Kanapathi, 48, Owner and CEO of a Financial and Insurance Services firm was elected Councillor for Ward 7 of Markham City Council polling 3088 votes, 17 percent more than his closest rival. Kanapathi received 34 percent of the total votes cast.

When asked to comment on his win, Mr. Kanapathi said: “my victory is a victory for the people.” He promised to bring to bear his political experience, community knowledge, business expertise, drive and passion to his job as councillor.

Neethan Shan, Program Director at an institute for civil society, was elected School Board Trustee for Ward 7& 8 with 8230 votes polling 66.23 percent of the votes cast.

Ten other Tamil candidates contested in the elections.

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TS:

Tamil Canadian the first to gain public office