The Honourable
Vijay Thanigasalam
MPP
Associate Minister of Transportation
Assumed office
September 22, 2023
PremierDoug Ford
Preceded byTodd McCarthy
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure
In office
June 29, 2022 – September 22, 2023
MinisterKinga Surma
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation
In office
June 26, 2019 – June 1, 2022
MinisterCaroline Mulroney
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Scarborough—Rouge Park
Assumed office
June 7, 2018
Preceded byRiding established
Personal details
Born (1989-03-08) March 8, 1989
Jaffna
Political partyProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Residence(s)Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario
Alma materOntario Tech University

Vijay Thanigasalam MPP (born March 8, 1989) is a Canadian politician who is the Associate Minister of Transportation. He has sat as a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) since 2018, representing the riding of Scarborough—Rouge Park as a member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party. Thanigasalam is the first Tamil Canadian to be appointed a Minister in Ontario.

Early life and education

Born in 1989, Thanigasalam immigrated to Canada at the age of 14.  He attended St. Joan of Arc Catholic Academy (then known as Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School) while working multiple part-time jobs.  At this time, he began to get involved and volunteer with many community organizations in Scarborough. He went on to study at the University of Toronto Scarborough and completed his Bachelor of Commerce in Finance at the Ontario Tech University.  After graduation, Thanigasalam worked as a financial advisor.[1]

Political career

Thanigasalam at the future site of the SAMIH

On June 7, 2018, Thanigasalam was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Scarborough—Rouge Park. In 2019, he was named Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation.  In this capacity, Thanigasalam and his government announced the building of the Scarborough Subway Extension, which is currently under construction.[2]

He also secured funding for the Tamil Community Centre within his riding of Scarborough—Rouge Park, which has the highest concentration of Tamil Canadians in Canada.[3]

In 2022, Thanigasalam supported the provincial government’s $1 billion plan to revitalize the Scarborough Health Network’s aging infrastructure. The funding includes a new emergency department at Centenary Hospital and a complete redevelopment of the Birchmount Hospital.[4]  Thanigasalam was also instrumental in announcing the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) at the University of Toronto Scarborough, the first ever medical school in Scarborough. This is the largest expansion of an undergraduate and postgraduate medical school in Toronto since 1843.[5]

Thanigasalam was re-elected in the 2022 Ontario general election and subsequently named Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure.

On September 22, 2023, Thanigasalam was appointed Associate Minister of Transportation. [6]

Bill 104 receiving royal assent in May 2021.

Bill 104 - Tamil Genocide Education Week Act

In 2019, Thanigasalam introduced Bill 104, Tamil Genocide Education Week Act, which proposed a seven-day period ending on May 18th (which marks the Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day) to be recognized as Tamil Genocide Education Week in Ontario.  The bill passed and received royal assent on May 12, 2021. The bill recognizes how Tamil-Ontarian families “have been physically or mentally traumatized by the genocide that the Sri Lankan state perpetrated against the Tamils during the civil war which lasted from 1983 to 2009, and especially so in May 2009".[7]

Bill 104 is the first time that claims of the Tamil Genocide were officially recognized by a government in the Tamil diaspora. This was significant for the Tamil community in Canada and across the world.[8]

Electoral record

2022 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Rouge Park
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeVijay Thanigasalam15,98945.10+6.49
LiberalManal Abdullahi9,78427.60+6.69
New DemocraticFelicia Samuel7,74221.84-14.48
GreenPriyan De Silva8502.39-0.02
Ontario PartyGordon Kerr5231.47
New BlueChristopher Bressi2850.80
Freedom PartyMatthew Oliver1390.39
Total valid votes 35,312100
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 1350.38
Turnout 35,447
Eligible voters
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +6.49
Source: Elections Ontario[9]
2018 Ontario general election: Scarborough—Rouge Park
Party Candidate Votes%
Progressive ConservativeVijay Thanigasalam16,22438.61
New DemocraticFelicia Samuel15,26136.32
LiberalSumi Shan8,78520.91
GreenPriyan De Silva1,0142.41
LibertarianTodd Byers5821.39
TrilliumAmit Mahendra Pitamber1490.35
Total valid votes 42,01599.12
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 3720.88
Turnout 42,387
Eligible voters
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source: Elections Ontario[10]

Cabinet posts

References

  1. ↑ "After Fleeing Brutal Civil War, Ontario MPP Wants To Give Back To Canada". HuffPost. 2018-12-28. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  2. ↑ "Ontario Newsroom". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  3. ↑ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2017-02-08). "2011 Census of Population - Data products". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  4. ↑ "Vijay Thanigasalam SHN Twitter Announcement". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  5. ↑ "'A historic moment': Event marks official launch of Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health". University of Toronto News. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  6. ↑ "Premier Doug Ford announces cabinet shuffle hours after third minister resigns in a month". CP24. 2023-09-22. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  7. ↑ "Tamil Genocide Education Week Act, 2021". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  8. ↑ "Ontario judge upholds Tamil Genocide Education Week in battle 'over who gets to write the history of the war'". thestar.com. 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  9. ↑ "Vote Totals From Official Tabulation - Scarborough-Rouge Park 097" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  10. ↑ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 8. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
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