Toronto, ON - Thadsha Navaneethan, a Scarborough resident and community activist was elected to be the Vice President of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), making her the first Tamil Canadian to become Vice President of a Federal Party in Canada. The role of the Vice President within the party is a senior leadership position in the governance of the party.

Thadsha received a number of prominent endorsements from party members across the country, including endorsements from Ontario MPP Lisa Gretzky, MPP Teresa Armstrong, MPP Michael Mantha and MPP Cindy Forster. She also was endorsed by many labour unions including United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United Steelworkers (USW) and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

Thadsha was nominated by long time labour and community activist Bob Gallagher who was also chief of staff to the late Jack Layton. Party delegates voted for positions of President, Vice-President and Treasurer at the party’s convention on Sunday, February 18, 2018.  The 3 day NDP convention had close to 2000 delegates, making it one of the largest in the party’s history.

Thadsha has worked on various roles within political election campaigns at all levels for the past thirteen years, including being a candidate at municipal level in Toronto in 2006. Thadsha currently works for the Ontario NDP Caucus Services in the Leader’s Office. She also serves as the President of Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 578 and is an active member of the union. She is a community organizer who continues to build local grassroots movements for social and political change.