The Honourable
Gary Anandasangaree
PC MP
கரி ஆனந்தசங்கரி
Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations
Assumed office
July 26, 2023
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byMarc Miller
Member of Parliament
for Scarborough—Rouge Park
Assumed office
October 19, 2015
Preceded byRiding established
Personal details
BornSri Lanka
NationalityCanadian
Political partyLiberal
Residence(s)Markham, Ontario, Canada[1]
Alma mater
ProfessionLawyer

Sathiyasangaree "Gary" Anandasangaree PC MP (Tamil: சத்தியசங்கரி ஆனந்தசங்கரி) is a Tamil Canadian politician of Tamil origin and a lawyer who currently serves as the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations as of 2023. He is the second Canadian federal minister of Tamil descent to hold office, following Anita Anand. He was elected to represent the riding of Scarborough—Rouge Park in the House of Commons in the 2015 federal election.[2]

Early life and family

Anandasangaree is the son of V. Anandasangaree, a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician.[3][4] His parents separated in 1980 and he and his mother moved to Ireland.[5] They had planned to return to Sri Lanka in July 1983 when the Black July anti-Tamil riots broke out.[5] Changing plans, Anandasangaree and his mother travelled to Canada on August 31, 1983.[5][6] Anandasangaree is estranged from his father and has only met him twice since 1983.[5][6]

After high school Anandasangaree attended Carleton University, graduating in 1996 with a B.A. honours degree in political science.[6][7][8] He is married and together they have two children, Bairvai and Sahanah.[8]

Career

Anandasangaree worked in real estate as a registered real estate broker between 1996 and 2006.[9]

Anandasangaree studied at the Osgoode Hall Law School, the law faculty of York University.[10] He graduated in 2005 with a LL.B. degree and was called to the bar in 2006.[10][11] Anandasangaree is the principal lawyer at Gary Anandasangaree and Associates, a Toronto law firm specialising in business, real estate and international human rights law.[12] He is a member of The Law Society of Upper Canada, Canadian Bar Association, Ontario Bar Association and South Asian Bar Association.[9]

Anandasangaree has served on various community groups: Canadian Tamils’ Chamber of Commerce (president); Canadian Tamil Congress (counsel); Canadian Tamil Youth Development Centre (chairman); Newcomer Grants for the United Way of Greater Toronto (member); Toronto Board of Trade (member); Toronto City Summit’s Emerging Leaders Network (member); and Youth Challenge Fund (board member).[7][9] He has also lectured at the Centennial College Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.[9] He has received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[7] He has also been awarded the TREB Award and Henry Marshall Tory Award for Service.[7][9]

Anandasangaree has been a vocal campaigner against human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan Civil War and has attended several sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council.[13][14] This has led to Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists labelling Anandasangaree as a member of the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).[15][16][17] However, LTTE supporters openly backed Anandasangaree's conservative opponent during the 2015 federal election campaign.[13]

Politics

Anandasangaree became active in politics after joining the Liberal Party.[13] In October 2013 Anandasangaree announced that he would be seeking the Liberal Party nomination for the Scarborough—Rouge Park for the 2015 federal election.[8] He won the nomination election held in August 2014.[18][19] He won the election held on October 19, 2015, securing 29,906 votes (60.1%).[20][21]

Anandasangaree continued his advocacy for Human Rights in parliament, speaking on International Human Rights Day about welcoming Syrian refugees and an Iranian scholar (Dr. Hossein Raessi) who was protected due to a joint program between Carleton University and University of Ottawa.[22]

Anandasangaree sat on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development committee in the 42nd Canadian Parliament.[23]

On December 3, 2021, Anandasangaree was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.[24]

On July 26, 2023, Anandasangaree became the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.[25]

Electoral record

2021 Canadian federal election: Scarborough—Rouge Park
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalGary Anandasangaree28,70262.8+0.6
ConservativeZia Choudhary9,62821.1+1.0
New DemocraticKingsley Kwok6,06813.3+1.8
People'sAsad Rehman1,3222.9+2.0
Total valid votes 45,72099.2
Total rejected ballots 3500.8
Turnout 46,07061.3
Eligible voters 75,105
Liberal hold Swing -0.2
Source: Elections Canada[26]
2019 Canadian federal election: Scarborough—Rouge Park
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalGary Anandasangaree31,36062.2+1.96$93,933.93
ConservativeBobby Singh10,11520.1-7.26$18,116.82
New DemocraticKingsley Kwok5,80111.5+1.14none listed
GreenJessica Hamilton2,3304.6+2.57none listed
People'sDilano Sally4670.9-none listed
Christian HeritageMark Theodoru3530.7-none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit 50,426100.0
Total rejected ballots 322
Turnout 50,74866.4
Eligible voters 76,408
Liberal hold Swing +4.61
Source: Elections Canada[27][28]
2015 Canadian federal election: Scarborough—Rouge Park
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalGary Anandasangaree29,91360.24+25.48$144,189.04
ConservativeLeslyn Lewis13,58727.36-4.23$59,291.73
New DemocraticKM Shanthikumar5,14510.36-20.63$58,736.40
GreenCalvin Winter1,0102.03-0.36$1,457.51
Total valid votes/expense limit 49,655100.0–$204,974.26
Total rejected ballots 2350.47New
Turnout 49,89069.98New
Eligible voters 71,291
Source: Elections Canada[29][30]

References

  1. ↑ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  2. ↑ Tang, Veronica (October 20, 2015). "Gary Anandasangaree wins Scarborough-Rouge Park for Liberals in landslide victory". Global News. Archived from the original on October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Sangaree's son elected to Canadian parliament". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Global News. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Ferdinando, Shamindra (January 3, 2014). "Canadian MP Rathika in hot water over Jaffna episode". The Island (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Statement from Gary Anandasangaree". ekuruvi.com. July 15, 2014. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 Wong, Jan; Clark, Campbell (January 8, 2005). "Tamils force Ottawa to grab the Tigers' tail". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau visits Tamil Fest Street Festival". Monsoon Journal. 10 (4): 1. September 2015. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 "Gary Anandasangaree To Seek Federal Liberal Nomination In Scarborough". seithy.com. October 7, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Gary Anandasangaree". Gary Anandasangaree and Associates. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Gary Anandasangaree elected to Canadian Parliament". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Global News. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Grads create first-ever scholarship in Tamil studies". York University. October 14, 2014. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Gary A'sangaree launches bid for Federal Liberal nomination". Ceylon Today. October 14, 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 "Sangaree's son Gary elected to Canadian Parliament". The Island (Sri Lanka). October 21, 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Gary Anandasangaree wins in Scarborough-Rouge for Liberals". Tamil CNN. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  15. ↑ Nathaniel, Camelia (May 25, 2014). "LTTE's Gary Anandasangaree To Enter Canadian Politics?". The Sunday Leader. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  16. ↑ Jayasekara, Bandula (July 6, 2015). "Guerrilla diplomacy and Wild West tactics in Toronto". The Island (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  17. ↑ Fernando, Manjula (March 30, 2014). "Govt to ban LTTE fronts?". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Gary Anandasangaree of Liberal party won the nomination election for the Scarborough Rouge Park constituency". Tamil CNN. August 21, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Anandasangaree's Son To Contest Canada's General Election". Asian Mirror. August 22, 2014. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Gary Anandasangaree – A Sri Lankan Tamil Origin Elected To Canadian Parliament". Asian Tribune. October 21, 2015. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  21. ↑ "Gary Anandasangaree wins Scarborough-Rouge Park for Liberals". adaderana.lk. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
  22. ↑ Hansard, 2015-12-10 14:12 [p.236]
  23. ↑ McGregor, Janyce. "Meet the Commons committees of the 42nd Parliament". CBC News. Archived from the original on January 31, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
  24. ↑ "Prime Minister welcomes new parliamentary secretaries". Prime Minister of Canada. December 3, 2021. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Prime Minister announces changes to the Ministry". Prime Minister of Canada. July 26, 2023. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  26. ↑ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
  27. ↑ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  28. ↑ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  29. ↑ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Scarborough—Rouge Park, 30 September 2015
  30. ↑ Elections Canada – Final Candidates Election Expenses Limits
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