Biography Of The Honourable Jim Karygiannis City Councillor, Ward 39-Scarborough-Agincourt The Honourable Jim Karygiannis was elected to Toronto City Council on October 27, 2014. Mr. Karygiannis is the former Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt. He has been an effective voice for the people of Scarborough-Agincourt, with vast political experience and a proven record of public service. He was the Liberal Party Critic for Veterans Affairs and the Liberal Party Critic for Multiculturalism, with responsibility for stakeholder and community outreach. He served as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, with special emphasis on Transport and the Environment. During his tenure, Mr. Karygiannis forged good working relationships with his colleagues at the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government. Together, they worked on issues of critical importance to the community including: establishing, with law enforcement agencies and various government departments, a Task Force to combat marijuana grow houses. He also worked with his colleagues to help strengthen community safety and helped to ensure the safety of residents of rooming houses in Scarborough-Agincourt. When the SARS epidemic struck Toronto and Canada, the Scarborough Grace Hospital was the epicenter of the outbreak. Working with his colleagues in Ottawa, Jim was able to quickly address the issue of salaries, through Employment Insurance, for people who were affected and working on the front lines. As the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, Jim worked with City of Toronto officials, the people of Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt and GO Transit, to ensure the sound of loud train whistles on GO Trains traveling south, along the eastern border of Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt, did not disturb area residents. Jim Karygiannis is a resident of Ward 39, Scarborough-Agincourt, one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the City of Toronto. He has worked with, and will continue to work with, the Canadian Diasporas of many multicultural communities with respect to the protection of human rights; economic sustainability for nation-building; and, social justice issues. He has also worked with Canadian Diasporas and the Government of Canada to help secure humanitarian aid to assist the victims of natural and man-made disasters. For his work with a number of communities, Jim has received recognition, including being awarded:  ‘The Mkhitar Gosh Medal' from the Government of The Republic of Armenia for his substantial input in international recognition of the Armenian Genocide; The ‘25 Year of Karabakh Movement' Gold Medal by the Government of The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as the first Canadian to visit the Republic in 2012 to observe the Presidential Elections; and, The decoration of the ‘Officer's Gold Cross of the Order of Phoenix' by the Hellenic Republic in recognition of his many public service contributions. Jim was born in Athens, Greece in 1955. He immigrated to Canada with his family in 1966. Jim graduated in 1978 from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Industrial Engineering. He also holds a Fellowship of Business Administration from the Canadian School of Management. Jim worked in the family business until 1988 when he was elected as a Member of Parliament.