Ward 24 — Scarborough-Guildwood

Malaravan Balachandran describes himself as a former student of two TDSB schools, and says he is familiar with the Scarborough Guildwood community having grown up there. He has also been an active volunteer in the community, including on the Toronto Strong Neighbourhood Strategy Resident Advisory Committee from 2015 to 2017, and as president of the Rotary Club of Scarborough from 2016 to 2017. Balachandran’s top priority is to provide students access to after school programs, mental health support, breakfast programs and the technology to help them succeed.

Sushital Choudhury is the director of the Toronto Durgabari, a Bangladeshi Hindu temple he helped develop in 2009. Sushital wants to create policies that support racial equity, foster community relationships, and improve resource allocation and safety if elected.

Information about this candidate could not be found at time of publication.

While there is limited information online describing his campaign, Sulaman Karimi describes himself, according to his LinkedIn Profile, as a Fraud Analyst at RBC. He was also the financial officer of the Ontario Tech Accounting Association from 2019 to 2020 while undertaking his studies at Ontario Tech University.

Information about this candidate could not be found at time of publication.

Elected in 2018, Zakir Patel is the incumbent TDSB trustee for Ward 19. According to his trustee webpage, he has been a real estate broker for over 15 years and owns several distribution services. He appears to have once been a director-at-large for the Scarborough-Guildwood Federal Liberal Association. He believes access to nutritional programs and extracurricular activities in schools is vital. In 2020 and 2021, Patel campaigned for a local school, St. Margaret’s Public School, to be put on the Toronto District School Board’s priority list to receive provincial funding for significant building repairs. The Toronto & York Region Labour Council endorses Patel.

Nancy Crawford is the incumbent TCDSB trustee for Ward 12, holding the position since 2010. Crawford has served as the vice-chair of the Toronto Catholic School Board. She was also appointed to the board of directors of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ in April 2022. In a submitted campaign profile for Beach Metro Community News, Crawford notes that prior to being elected, she worked in Human Resources for the City of Toronto for 30 years and also holds a Master’s degree in Education from OISE, University of Toronto. Notably, as a trustee in 2019,  she voted against motions to include the terms ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression in the TCDSB’s code of conduct, proclaim June ‘Pride Month’, and fly the pride flag, all of which ultimately passed. According to her campaign website, Crawford describes herself as a strong advocate for Catholic education, building and programming improvements, and developing relationships with other elected representatives, among other priorities.

Information about this candidate could not be found at time of publication.

Benoit Fortin is the incumbent trustee for Conseil scolaire Viamonde Ward 2 – Est. He has held office since 2018, and has been elected by acclamation in this year’s election given he was running unopposed. Fortin is the founding member and Vice President of Development in Africa and India of Skypower, which develops, funds and runs utility-scale renewable power projects internationally. He is also vice-president of the Association des conseils scolaires des écoles publiques de l’Ontario board of directors, which represents all French-language public school boards in the province. While there is limited information about his priorities, Fortin has commented publicly as vice-president of the board on the importance of keeping students in the francophone school system until grade 12 and of meeting the specific needs of a growing francophone community following an announcement of funding from the Ontario government to build a new school.

The City Clerk has voided the election for the MonAvenir school board in this ward. The election will not take place on October 24 and a by-election will be held at a later date.

The City Clerk has voided the election for the MonAvenir school board in this ward. The election will not take place on October 24 and a by-election will be held at a later date. In an email to parents sent on October 21, Rawdat said he was ending his campaign. Read more about ineligible trustees running in French-language schools.

The City Clerk has voided the election for the MonAvenir school board in this ward. The election will not take place on October 24 and a by-election will be held at a later date. On October 21, Wilson notified the city clerk that he is not eligible to hold office. Read more about ineligible trustees running in French-language schools.