--- title: "Roy Samathanam: candidate for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, Toronto 2026 | voche.me" canonical_url: "https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/candidates/roy-samathanam" last_updated: "2026-10-10T04:10:09.475Z" meta: description: "Roy Samathanam is on the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, with a nomination filed on June 1, 2026..." "og:description": "Roy Samathanam is on the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, with a nomination filed on June 1, 2026..." "og:title": "Roy Samathanam: candidate for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, Toronto 2026" "twitter:description": "Roy Samathanam is on the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, with a nomination filed on June 1, 2026..." "twitter:title": "Roy Samathanam: candidate for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, Toronto 2026" --- ** Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North · Toronto 2026 # Roy Samathanam Candidate for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, with four stated priorities. Roy Samathanam is on the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North, with a nomination filed on June 1, 2026. His campaign website, the campaign’s own statement, says he arrived in Canada in 1990, has lived in Don Valley North for over 20 years and has worked in operations for 20 years. It names four priorities: transit, housing, a local office that answers, and clean, safe public space. Explore priorities Campaign links Researched by voche.me · Not a campaign-authored page Candidate space2026 ![Roy Samathanam, from Roy Samathanam campaign.](https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/images/candidates/roy-samathanam-640.webp) *Roy SamathanamCouncillorv.* [Image: Roy Samathanam campaign](https://www.royward17.com/) 01 / Introduction ## About Roy Samathanam Roy Samathanam appears on the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates for Councillor in Ward 17 Don Valley North. A certified candidate is one whose nomination the City Clerk has accepted. The list shows the nomination date as June 1, 2026 and the campaign website royward17.com. His campaign website, the campaign’s own statement, says he landed in Canada in 1990 at age 19, has lived in Don Valley North for over 20 years, has done 20 years of operations work, and has been part of a tenants’ association, coached at Cummer Park and taken part in development consultations on Sheppard Avenue. He lists three commitments: answer every resident, show his work publicly, and spend the ward’s money carefully. The Local’s tracker gives the same operations, tenants’ association and Sheppard Avenue background. CBC News reported on November 21, 2016 that the United Nations Human Rights Committee ordered the Sri Lankan government to make reparations for the alleged detention and torture of Roy Samathanam of Toronto from 2007 to 2010, and to prosecute those responsible. CBC says he came to Canada in 1990, the same year his campaign site gives. The Local says the candidate is the person in that case. CBC wrote that the Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa had not responded to its request for comment when the article was published. TTCriders’ page of Ward 17 candidate responses shows No Response beside his name. No public role is on record in the profile. Read the sources 02 / The issues ## Priorities & positions Campaign-source summary Summarized from the campaign’s published profile. These are stated positions, not an assessment of results or a complete platform. 01 ### Transit that shows up, as his campaign states His home page says he will push for reliable service on the 39 Finch East and 25 Don Mills routes, and for accountability on Line 4 and the Sheppard East corridor.
Read the full position This is the campaign’s own statement.
[Roy Samathanam · campaign home page ](https://www.royward17.com/) 02 ### Housing people can stay in, as his campaign states His campaign says it will support tenants facing above-guideline rent increases and hold developers to the community benefits they promise. [Roy Samathanam · campaign home page ](https://www.royward17.com/) 03 ### A local office that answers, as his campaign states His campaign says every call and email would be logged, with a written reply within two business days. [Roy Samathanam · campaign home page ](https://www.royward17.com/) 04 ### Clean, safe public space, as his campaign states His campaign says it will press for a faster response from the City’s 311 service line on illegal dumping, park maintenance and winter clearing along school walking routes. [Roy Samathanam · campaign home page ](https://www.royward17.com/) Research status ## What voche.me has checked Evidence reviewed on October 4, 2026: the City of Toronto’s list of certified candidates, his campaign home page, which carries his story, ward facts, priorities and a news and updates section, The Local’s Ward 17 tracker, CBC News of November 21, 2016 and TTCriders’ page of Ward 17 candidate responses. Every statement taken from his campaign website is written as the campaign’s own account. Ward context. The sitting Ward 17 councillor on the City’s Members of Council page is Shelley Carroll, who is also a candidate. The 7 candidates for Ward 17 on the City’s list are Hassan Mubarak Noor Mohamed, Hong Xiao, Jeffery Adamson, Jethro Adir Kavod, Roy Samathanam, Sabrina Zuniga and Shelley Carroll. The City Clerk’s 2022 results for Ward 17 list 6 candidates: Shelley Carroll (12,897 votes, elected), Daryl Christoff (2,429), Calvin Xu (1,367), Angela Lindow (577), Justin Knott (409) and Sandakie Ekanayake (286). A search for a 2026 debate or all-candidates meeting in the ward found none. The Clerk’s 2022 declaration of results holds no entry under this surname, so no 2022 result is attached to this candidate. Gaps. The Local’s tracker makes a further statement about him that rests on that outlet alone, with no record voche.me could read and no response from him in the text. voche.me looked for a second source and found none, so the statement is left out. The home page carries sections for his story, ward facts, resources, events, news and updates and donations, and all of them were read. His Instagram profile opened and returned only a summary, so nothing from it is used. voche.me found no 2026 news article that carries his own statements. The questionnaire has not been sent. [City of Toronto · list of certified candidates](https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/elections/candidate-list/) [Roy Samathanam · campaign home page](https://www.royward17.com/) [The Local · Ward 17 Don Valley North candidate tracker, updated September 21, 2026](https://thelocal.to/ward-17-don-valley-north-2026/) [CBC News · United Nations orders reparations for Canadian imprisoned in Sri Lanka, November 21, 2016](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/united-nations-orders-reparations-for-canadian-imprisoned-in-sri-lanka-1.3860827) [TTCriders · Ward 17 Don Valley North candidate responses](https://www.ttcriders.ca/2026ward17) 03 / Background ## Experience & community ### Background not supplied Work, public service and community involvement will appear here when supplied. No experience has been added to this profile. 04 / Questions & answers ## Questions for the candidate Proposed questions for a future interview. They have not been sent to the candidate, and no answers have been supplied. No questions and answers have been supplied. ### Have your own question? Ask Roy Samathanam directly. We send it to the campaign, and publish the reply here if we get one. 05 / About this page ## Questions about this page Facts voche.me can state about Roy Samathanam's page itself, answered directly rather than left blank.
Is this an official page for Roy Samathanam? No. This page is researched by voche.me from public sources, listed below, and is separate from Roy Samathanam's own campaign.
Does Roy Samathanam currently hold public office? Not according to this profile. voche.me has not listed a current public office for Roy Samathanam.
How many sources does this Roy Samathanam profile cite? This profile lists 5 sourced references, each with the date voche.me checked it, in the Sources section below.
Why do some questions on Roy Samathanam's page show no answer? The "Questions & answers" section on this page lists questions voche.me would put to Roy Samathanam in a future interview. They have not been sent yet, so the page says plainly that no answer has been supplied instead of leaving the section blank.
When is the election Roy Samathanam is running in? The 2026 Toronto municipal election, including the Councillor race, is decided on October 26, 2026.
06 / Candidate contributions ## Space for campaign updates ### No campaign updates yet Announcements, event details and messages can be added here, with their source and publication date. No campaign submission has been added. ## Sources & transparency - [City of Toronto · list of certified candidates ](https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/elections/candidate-list/)Checked October 4, 2026 - [Roy Samathanam · campaign home page ](https://www.royward17.com/)Checked October 4, 2026 - [The Local · Ward 17 Don Valley North candidate tracker, updated September 21, 2026 ](https://thelocal.to/ward-17-don-valley-north-2026/)Checked October 4, 2026 - [CBC News · United Nations orders reparations for Canadian imprisoned in Sri Lanka, November 21, 2016 ](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/united-nations-orders-reparations-for-canadian-imprisoned-in-sri-lanka-1.3860827)Checked October 4, 2026 - [TTCriders · Ward 17 Don Valley North candidate responses ](https://www.ttcriders.ca/2026ward17)Checked October 4, 2026 Missing information does not imply a candidate’s position. [Read our editorial standards.](https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/about) Campaign contact ## Campaign links & contact. Find the candidate’s website, social accounts and contact information. [Roy Samathanam campaign website](https://www.royward17.com/) ## View more candidates. [All candidate spaces ](https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/candidates) [Councillor**Aanchal Vashistha**](https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/candidates/aanchal-vashistha) [Councillor**Aaron Lal**](https://voche.me/on/toronto-2026/candidates/aaron-lal) Candidate Q&A ## Ask Roy Samathanam a question. Give your name, email and question. We send it to the campaign, and publish their answer here if we get one. ## Sitemap See the full [sitemap](/on/toronto-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.