Toronto Votes 2026: Scarborough Southwest council candidate Parthi Kandavel profile

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Local voters will cast their ballots on Monday, Oct. 26, in Toronto’s municipal election. Along with voting for mayor and school trustee, local voters will also be electing a new councillor for Ward 20 Scarborough Southwest.
There are eight candidates running for the council seat in Scarborough Southwest. For this Candidate Profile feature, Beach Metro Community News reached out to the candidates who we could find contact information for and asked them to send their profile and a photo in by a set deadline. We are only printing the profiles of those who responded by the deadline. The eight candidates registered to run for councillor in Scarborough Southwest in this month’s municipal election are Laikul Choudhury, Naser Kaid, Parthi Kandavel, Ariel-Rachel Karokis, Luigi Lisciandro, Sharmina Nasrin, Mohammad Ali Reza, and Kevin Rupasinghe.)

Scarborough Southwest has been my home for more than 38 years. I grew up at St. Clair and Kennedy, attended Corvette Public School, did my teacher placements at John A. Leslie and Regent Heights Public School, and spent more than 12 years as a teacher. I also had the privilege of serving our community for eight years as a TDSB trustee. Today, my wife Anu and I are raising our two children in Oakridge, and I have served as the Councillor for Scarborough Southwest for the past two and a half years.

Four generations of my family live here, giving me an understanding of all perspectives in our community. My experience as a teacher, trustee, parent, and Councillor has deepened my connection to our community and shaped how I lead. I know our neighbourhoods, our schools, and the people who work every day to make Scarborough Southwest a better place.

I am running for re-election because I believe Scarborough deserves its fair share of investment, services, and attention from City Hall. As councillor, I have consistently been a strong advocate for bringing that investment back to our neighbourhoods.

Together, we have secured major improvements, including a new Scarborough Arena Gardens, a new park and pool at Blantyre Park, new sports courts in our parks and community centres, streetscape improvements in Birch Cliff, secured $20 million in good repair funds to Birchmount Pool, a childcare space secured for Birchmount Community Centre, and the Bluffer’s Park Action Plan. We have also advanced practical road-safety improvements and stood up for residents on major issues, including the proposed data centre expansion at Birchmount and Danforth.

I’ve also been a strong voice for our community, leading the fight against sixplexes, given concerns about 3.5-storey buildings housing up to 24 people next to single-family homes, without adequate consideration of parking, waste management, and shadowing on neighbouring properties.

I am proud of what we have accomplished, but there is still more work ahead. I am running to continue delivering long-overdue investments, protect the character of our neighbourhoods, strengthen local services, and ensure residents have a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect them. Scarborough Southwest is my home, and I want to keep working with residents to build the future our community deserves.