Ashan Fernando

Ashan Fernando appears on the City of Toronto's list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 25 Scarborough-Rouge Park. A certified candidate is one whose nomination the City Clerk has accepted. The list shows the nomination date as June 22, 2026 and gives his campaign website, electashanfernando.ca. voche.me could not read that site, which shows only its title when opened.

The City Clerk's declaration of results for the October 24, 2022 general election lists Ashan Fernando third among 3 candidates for Councillor in Ward 25 Scarborough-Rouge Park, with 1,984 votes. Jennifer McKelvie was elected with 14,168 and Jacinta Kanakaratnam was second with 3,449. The 3 declared totals add up to 19,601 votes, so his share was 10.1 percent, calculated by voche.me from those figures. The Local's 2025 profile names him as that 2022 candidate, and an Art of Autism interview published October 21, 2022 introduces him as a candidate for Councillor in Ward 25.

The City Clerk's declaration of results for the September 29, 2025 by-election lists him 12th among 20 candidates for Councillor in Ward 25, with 182 votes. Neethan Shan was elected with 5,174. The 20 declared totals add up to 19,260 votes, so his share was 0.9 percent, calculated by voche.me from those figures.

The Centennial Community and Recreation Association's listing of Ward 25 candidates, which reads as text the candidates supplied, says he is a resident of 26 years or more, a past president of the West Hill-Highland Creek Lions Club, an interim co-chair of the Port Union Community Winterfest in 2023 and a former board director of Surrey Place. It says he serves on the Surrey Place Self-Advocacy Council and has over 25 years of professional experience. The Local's 2026 tracker, updated September 21, 2026, describes the Lions Club role in the same way and says he joined the Surrey Place board in 2022. It adds that in 2016 he sought the Liberal nomination in the Scarborough-Rouge River riding. voche.me read no record from the Lions Club or Surrey Place, so these roles are his own account and The Local's.

The Local's 2026 tracker says he stated in an Instagram post that he is "pro-life" and is endorsed by the Campaign Life Coalition, an anti-abortion group. Its 2025 profile reported that he had told the Campaign Life Coalition he is pro-life and that he confirmed this stance to The Local by email. voche.me did not open the Instagram post. These are The Local's reports of his own statements.

TTCriders' Ward 25 page records his answers to its 18 transit questions. He answered Yes to 17 and No to the question on voting in favour of RapidTO routes in other wards. His written comments say Council and the Mayor should have final authority over the TTC, that he would choose to sit on the TTC Board, and that he supports priority bus lanes during morning and evening rush hours with the lanes open to drivers from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Build Canada's Ward 25 page records his questionnaire answers. He answered Yes to permitting more housing as of right in every ward with the comment "No High Rise Condo Development In Ward 25, However Affordable Low Rise Housing With 3 Levels Max", No to road pricing, and No to raising additional local revenue for infrastructure repairs. On public safety he chose "Mental-health response, addiction treatment and youth intervention". These are his answers to an advocacy group's survey and to a news organization's questionnaire.

In the October 2022 Art of Autism interview, which carried the editor's note that the nonprofit does not endorse candidates, he said he would call on the provincial government to double the Ontario Disability Support Program, call for an audit of City spending, and hold a community hub once a month. These were statements of a 2022 campaign. The Local's 2026 tracker says his campaign website pledges up to $500,000 in funding for high-needs neighbourhoods and lists improved roads and transit, affordable housing and clean parks among his priorities.