Rathika Sitsabaiesan

Rathika Sitsabaiesan MP
Rathika Sitsabaiesan
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Scarborough—Rouge River
Incumbent
Assumed office May 2, 2011
Preceded by	Derek Lee
Majority	5,000
Personal details
Born	December 23, 1981 (1981-12-23) Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Citizenship	Canadian
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	New Democratic Party
Residence	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma mater	Carleton University Queen’s University
Occupation	Activist, community worker
Profession	Labour Relations Specialist
Committees	Standing Committee for Citizenship and Immigration
Portfolio	Post-Secondary Education (Human Resources and Skills Development)
Website	rathika.ca

Rathika Sitsabaiesan (Tamil: ராதிகா சிற்சபை ஈசன்) (born December 23, 1981) is a member of the Canadian parliament for the New Democratic Party, representing Scarborough—Rouge River. She is the first person of Tamil-origin to be elected to federal parliament in Canada and the first female and first person of colour to be elected as Member of Parliament in Scarborough—Rouge River. She is also the youngest Member of Parliament in the Greater Toronto Area.

Early life

Sitsabaiesan was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, a small town in the peninsula of Jaffna in Northern Province. She has three elder sisters. At the age of five, Sitsabaiesan and her family emigrated to Canada.

Sitsabaiesan grew up in Mississauga, west of Toronto. When her father was disabled following a workplace accident, her mother had to give up her nursing studies to work in a warehouse to support the family. Sitsabaiesan attended the University of Toronto for the first two years of her higher education. While there, she served as Vice President of the Tamil Students Association. She would later transfer to Carleton University, where she would go on to complete a Bachelor of Commerce degree.. During her time at Carleton, Sitsabaiesan served as a Vice President of the Carleton University Students' Association, Caucus Chair of the New University Government and Operations Manager of the Rideau River Residence Association. She completed graduate studies at Queen’s University, where she obtained a Master's degree in Industrial Relations.

Sitsabaiesan has been heavily involved in community and advocacy work. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Malvern Community Coalition, a residents' group in Malvern, Toronto. She worked for the University of Toronto Students' Union and the Ontario Labour Relations Board before being elected to Parliament.

Political career

Rathika's 2011 NDP Campaign Speech

Sitsabaiesan became involved with the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 2004 when she volunteered for Ed Broadbent's federal election campaign. She later served in various roles in the NDP including as a canvasser and campaign manager during the 2008 Canadian federal election. She also served as an advisor on Tamil issues to NDP leader Jack Layton.

In December 2009 Sitsabaiesan won the nomination to be the NDP's candidate in the Scarborough—Rouge River electoral district in Toronto. The late federal NDP leader Jack Layton made his final campaigning stop at Sitsabaiesan's campaign rally a day before the 2011 federal election with his wife and fellow NDP MP Olivia Chow. Scarborough—Rouge River was considered a safe Liberal seat that had been held by Derek Lee (who did not contest the seat in 2011) since its creation 1988.. Sitsabaiesan won the 2011 Canadian federal election after securing 18,935 votes (40.62%). Sitsabaiesan became the first Tamil Canadian to be elected to the Canadian Parliament. Sitsabaiesan is the first Tamil woman to be elected to any federal parliament outside India or Sri Lanka, with the exception of Indranee Rajah who is a Chindian from Singapore. She is also the first female member of parliament to represent Scarborough-Rouge River.

Sitsabaiesan was subsequently appointed critic for Post-Secondary Education (Human Resources and Skills Development) in the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet in the 41st Canadian Parliament.

Stance on war crime charges on Sri Lanka

Rathika Sitsabaiesan said, "she will take the initiative to form an All Party Parliamentary Committee (APPC) to look into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka during the last stages of the war. She further said, she would prioritize the formation of the APPC to "research and come up with recommendations" for the Canadian government over the report by the UN Experts Panel appointed by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Sitsabaiesan added, "For me the focus is people being treated with fairness, equality, dignity and justice... it is important for the culprits to be identified as a move towards genuine reconciliation.

External links

• Rathika Sitsabaiesan
• Rathika Sitsabaiesan - Parliament of Canada biography