First Tamil Canadian women elected to a public office takes oath using Thirukkural

In the 2010 Municipal election, Juanita Nathan made history by becoming the first Tamil Canadian women to be elected for a public office. On December 6th, 2010 Ms. Nathan was sworn in as the Public School Board Trustee for Ward 7 & 8 of the Town of Markham (Area 4). Ms. Nathan used the Thirukkural to take the oath. Thirukkural is a classic of 1330 couplets authored by Thiruvalluvar before 4th century AD and celebrated by Tamils all over the world. “Thirukkural stresses the importance of knowledge, and good ethics in one’s life and covers everything from importance of education, to good governance and I strongly believe in it” said Ms. Nathan.

The ceremony was attended by officails of the York Region District School Board and friends and family members of the Trustees. “I take this opportunity to thank all the residents for putting their confidence in me to carry out this task. I have already commenced engaging parents and community members and started to look at ways to increase parent engagement and seek opportunities for improvement and build on the best of our education system” added Ms. Nathan.

Ms. Nathan won by a large margin consuming over sixty percent of the total votes competing against four other candidates. “Given Juanita’s involvement at the grassroots level with various ethnic communities her victory is no surprise to us and this is a proud moment for not just the Tamil community, but for all of us in Markham” said Meena Lakhani, a long time resident and community outreach worker in Markham.

The role of a trustee includes advocating for quality education, policy making, and being the communicator with the public. The four year term will end on November 30, 2014.