Recently elected to represent the Scarborough-Rouge River riding, MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan got her political start as vice-president internal of Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA).

Sitsaibaiesan studied commerce at Carleton before completing a master’s in industrial relations at Queen’s University.

In addition to CUSA vice-president (internal), Sitsabaiesan served as caucus chair of the New University Government (now the Carleton Academic Student Government), and as operations manager with the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA), according to her campaign website biography.

She became involved with the New Democratic Party in 2004, and as CUSA VP (internal), she bargained for a tuition freeze with the provincial government.

Sitsabaiesan explained that she would rather be known as a Canadian MP of Tamil descent than the first Tamil MP, stating that she is proud of her heritage but does not want to be “pigeonholed.” She said it’s logical for a person of Tamil heritage to represent Scarborough-Rouge River, as it has the highest population density of Tamils in Canada.

She added that because all the average Canadians of her riding came together to elect her, she is responsible to all constituents of the riding, whether they are Filipino, Chinese, Caribbean, Tamil, or Anglo-Saxon.

Sitsabaiesan credited her “civically engaged” parents for encouraging her to engage in “community development” and “social justice advocacy” through volunteerism and sports.

After seeing how much debt she accrued after one year of assistance, she worked full-time and part-time jobs to put herself through school. She strongly believes in grants rather than loans, and sees the current system as forcing students to “dig a hole and try to jump back out again.”

Championed as a women rights activist by Canadian Human Rights Voice, Sitsabaiesan responded to a query about the controversial pro-life arrest at Carleton by asking how she, as an immigrant who had fled an oppressive regime, could support oppression in any circumstance, and that freedom of expression should be upheld especially on university campuses.

“[Do not] let anyone stop you from acting upon your opinions and passions, to go for it, and realize that if a five-year old immigrant from a war-torn country can become a parliamentarian before the age of 30, then you can do anything too,” said Sitsabaiesan.