THE GOAN NETWORK | VANCOUVER

An entrepreneur of Goan origin has been elected councillor, after winning the West Kelowna City Council elections in British Columbia, Canada, on October 15.

Tasha Da Silva, founder and CEO of Infuse IT Inc, which focuses on point-of-sale services for retail and restaurants, polled the third highest votes (2,595) at the election to become the first councillor of Goan origin in the West Kelowna City Council.

Tasha’s parents, Anne, who hails from Loutolim, and Joe, who hails from Moira, were delighted over her victory. “We are very happy as Tasha is the first person in the family in politics and got elected,” said Anne.

Details on Tasha’s candidate website stated that she was born and raised in Richmond, BC along the docks of historical Steveston village.

“My parents, Anne and Joe, had immigrated to Canada as refugees in the early 1970s, escaping the Idi Amin Regime of Uganda in East Africa. Learning by example, my parents always taught me the importance of being in service to the community,” stated Tasha.

According to Castanet News, all four incumbents returned to the council table, while there were two vacancies left by council members not running again and Tasha captured one of those.

“I’ve spent the last 14 years working with small business, retail stores and restaurants. And I know there’s a lot of small businesses that have really been hurt by the pandemic, and our tourism industry. So, I would love to really focus my attention on both economic development, as well as initiatives for affordable housing,” Tasha told Castanet News.