

Chris Fox, CP24.com





A new city councillor has been appointed to represent Ward 41 Scarborough-Rouge River for the remainder of the term and they can, at least in part, thank a lucky draw for the job.

Lawyer and community volunteer Miganoush Megardichian was appointed to the role during a special meeting on Tuesday morning.

Megardichian was one of 20 candidates who had applied for the position and it took six ballots for her to get the majority of votes required to be appointed.

After the fifth ballot, Megardichian was actually in a three-way tie with fellow candidates Tommy Chang and Cheyanne Ratnam at 13 votes each.

She advanced to the sixth and deciding ballot only after staff drew Ratnam’s name from a tin, thereby eliminating her from consideration.

Some members of council had pushed for a ranked ballot to break the tie but rules stipulating that ties be broken through a random drawing of names left staff with no option.

In a message posted to Twitter, the city’s clerk’s office said that all three names were put into a Scottish candy tin and one was chosen at random to be dropped from the ballot.

“We bring it to any meeting where there is a potential need to draw lots,” the office said of the tin, noting that it is owned by the city’s manager of committees and boards.

Megardichian is a longtime Scarborough resident but technically lives within the boundaries of Ward 38 Scarborough Centre.

In fact, only four of the 20 candidates who applied for the role lived in the ward.

Megardichian’s appointment is effective immediately, allowing her to attend the regular meeting of council taking place this afternoon.

Her time on council, however, may be limited.

The last meeting of this term of city council is scheduled for July 23-25.

Councillors will technically remain in office until the end of November but city business will largely be put on hold ahead of the Oct. 22 municipal election.

Ward 41 had been vacant since the May resignation of Chin Lee, who stepped aside to run in the provincial election.

Megardichian is the fourth city councillor appointed to the job so far this term.

In addition to her work as a lawyer, Megardichian sits on the board of Skate Ontario and the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association.