User:Geo Swan/Saron Gebresellassi

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Saron Gebresellassi is a Canadian lawyer.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

She declared herself as a candidate for mayor of Toronto in 2018.^[2]

On October 21, 2018, the eve of the election for mayor Toronto the Toronto Star reported that Desmond Cole claimed Gebresellassi had accepted a list of contact numbers from incumbent John Tory, that Cole felt she should have informed the public of this help.^[6]

Gebresellassi was born in Eritrea, but left in 1989, when her family was accepted for refugee status, when she was only a few years old.^[3][5] Now magazine reports she grew up in a "Toronto Community Housing high-rise near Eglinton and Keele."

Gebresellassi, who speaks seven languages, and is a classically trained pianist, excelled academically.^[3] Her academic success earned her scholarships, which enabled her to graduate debt-free from University.

Gebresellassi charges conventional clients conventional fees, and serves many pro-bono clients, including undocumented immigrants and individuals claiming sexual harrassment.^[3]

In 2014 she defended Sohill Agha who was kicked off an Air Canada plane when a fellow passenger claimed an overheard cell phone conversation should raise a legitimate safety concern.^[7] Gebressellassi asserted Agha had been unfairly profiled, as a muslim, of African background. She disputed whether he had said what the eavesdropper reported hearing.

She worked for Gilary Massa Machado, who was fired while on maternity leave.^[3]

Gebresellassi announced her candidacy on May 1, 2018.^[8] Activist Desmond Cole, who had considered running himself, accompanied Gebresellassi when she filed her candidacy.

Globe and Mail columnist Elizabeth Renzetti, in a profile of several female candidates, compared Gebresellassi to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as they were young capable candidates, who seemed to emerge at the right time for an electoral upset.^[9]

On October 15, 2018, a week before the election, Christopher Hume called her "the most exciting and articulate mayoral candidate".^[6]

In 2019 Gebresellassi was one of three nominees to be the New Democratic Party's nominee for the Federal riding of High Park Swansea.^[10] According to Matt Fodor, reporting in Now magazine, Gebresellassi had recruited 400 new members in the riding, whose support she was expecting to count on, but party workers took hours verifying their party status. Fodor said that many of Gebresellassi's supporters, which included many new Canadians, felt frustrated and humiliated.