Toronto, ON, May 2nd, 2011 – The 2011 Federal Elections marked an important turn in Tamil Canadian history as voters in the riding of Scarborough-Rouge River elected New Democrat candidate Rathika Sitsabaiesan to Canadian Parliament. Ms. Sitsabaiesan, now the first Canadian of Tamil descent to be elected as a Member of Parliament, was swept to victory with 18,856 votes and an overall 40.5% support in the riding.
With Liberal incumbent Derek Lee stepping down after 23 years, the voters of Scarborough Rouge-River chose change. Sitsabaiesan, a Tamil-Canadian community activist working for the University of Toronto’s Students’ Union with a Queen’s University Master’s Degree in Industrial Relations, was just what the voters were looking for – hard working, intelligent and outspoken. She brings a rich portfolio of student and labour movement experience to the NDP Caucus from helping the Service Employees’ International Union successfully launch the “Justice 4 Janitors” Campaign to serving as the Vice-President of the Carleton University Students’ Association. With strong ties to the Tamil Canadian and other communities in her riding, Sitsabaiesan managed to attract supporters from a riding which in 2008, held the lowest voter turnout in the city.
The Canadian Tamil Congress would like to extend its most sincere congratulations to Rathika Sitsabaiesan for her historic victory as the first Canadian of Tamil heritage elected to Parliament in Ottawa.
