Toronto District School Board (TDSB) chair and former city councillor Neethan Shan announced he plans to throw his hat into a city council byelection in Scarborough — assuming council goes ahead with authorizing a vote.
The council seat in Scarborough-Rouge Park will soon be vacant following Coun. Jennifer McKelvie’s election as the next Liberal MP for Ajax last week.
However, city council could opt to appoint an interim councillor rather than hold a byelection, given that the next city-wide municipal vote will take place in October 2026, about 17 months from now.
Shan briefly represented the Scarborough-Rouge Park ward at city hall from 2017 to 2018, when he was defeated by McKelvie.
“Since our narrow loss in the same riding in 2018 (154 votes), times have gotten tough, and I want to make sure the needs of Scarborough are not ignored,” Shan said on social media.
“This election will be about one thing: delivering for the people of Scarborough.”
The TDSB chair and former York Region District School Board trustee hasn’t just worked with school boards and municipal governments. He’s also been heavily involved in provincial politics.
In 2012, Shan was the first person of colour to become president of the Ontario New Democratic Party.
He ran for the party in four provincial elections, losing all of them, with the most recent being in 2022 for the Scarborough Centre riding.
Should a byelection be called, Shan could face competition this time around from local TDSB trustee Anu Sriskandarajah, who represents Scarborough-Rouge Park, and Shawn Allen, the former president of the Scarborough Business Association, according to a Toronto Star report.
