Gary Anandasangaree Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Gary Anandasangaree
Native Name Lang:ta
Office:Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations
Primeminister:Justin Trudeau
Term Start:July 26, 2023
Predecessor:Marc Miller
Riding1:Scarborough—Rouge Park
Parliament1:Canadian
Term Start1:October 19, 2015
Predecessor1:Riding established
Birth Place:Sri Lanka
Nationality:Canadian
Party:Liberal
Residence:Markham, Ontario, Canada[1]
Profession:Lawyer

Sathiyasangaree "Gary" Anandasangaree (Tamil: சத்தியசங்கரி ஆனந்தசங்கரி) is a Tamil Canadian politician of Tamil origin and a lawyer who has served as the Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations since July 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, born in Jaffna in 1973, is the son of V. Anandasangaree, a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician,[3] [4] by his second wife, Yogam.[5] His parents separated in 1980 and he and his mother moved to Ireland, where she had relatives.[6] They had planned to return to Sri Lanka in July 1983; but when the Black July anti-Tamil riots broke out,[6] Anandasangaree and his mother travelled to Canada on August 31, 1983.[6] [7] Anandasangaree is estranged from his father and has only met him twice since 1983.[6] [7]

After high school Anandasangaree attended Carleton University, graduating in 1996 with a B.A. honours degree in political science.[7] [8] [9] He is married and together they have two children, Bairavi and Sahanah.[9]

Career

Anandasangaree worked in real estate as a registered real estate broker between 1996 and 2006.[10]

Anandasangaree studied at the Osgoode Hall Law School, the law faculty of York University.[11] He graduated in 2005 with a LL.B. degree and was called to the bar in 2006.[11] [12] Anandasangaree is the principal lawyer at Gary Anandasangaree and Associates, a Toronto law firm specialising in business, real estate and international human rights law.[13] He is a member of The Law Society of Upper Canada, Canadian Bar Association, Ontario Bar Association and South Asian Bar Association.[10]

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).[8] [10] He has also lectured at the Centennial College Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.[10] He has received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[8] He has also been awarded the TREB Award and Henry Marshall Tory Award for Service.[8] [10]

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.[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.

Politics

Anandasangaree became active in politics after joining the Liberal Party.[18] In October 2013 Anandasangaree announced that he would be seeking the Liberal Party nomination for the Scarborough—Rouge Park for the 2015 federal election.[9] He won the nomination election held in August 2014.[19] [20] He won the election held on October 19, 2015, securing 29,906 votes (60.1%).[21] [22]

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.[23]

Anandasangaree sat on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development committee in the 42nd Canadian Parliament.[24] He was Parliamentary Secretary to Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller in May 2021, and on December 3rd of that year was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.[25]

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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Official Voting Results. Elections Canada. January 23, 2021. April 24, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200424102941/https://www.elections.ca/res/rep/off/ovr2019app/51/table12E.html. live.
  2. News: Tang. Veronica. Gary Anandasangaree wins Scarborough-Rouge Park for Liberals in landslide victory. Global News. October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015. October 21, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151021042255/http://globalnews.ca/news/2284171/gary-anandasangaree-wins-scarborough-rouge-park-for-liberals-in-landslide-victory/. live.
  3. News: Sangaree's son elected to Canadian parliament. The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka). Global News. October 20, 2015. October 24, 2015. October 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151022164624/http://www.dailymirror.lk/91903/sangaree-s-son-elected-to-canadian-parliament. live.
  4. News: Ferdinando. Shamindra. Canadian MP Rathika in hot water over Jaffna episode. The Island (Sri Lanka). January 3, 2014. October 24, 2015. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102643/http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=95167. live.
  5. Web site: Gary Anandasangaree Canada’s First Sri Lankan Tamil Cabinet Minister - Opinion Daily Mirror . 2024-07-16 . www.dailymirror.lk . English.
  6. Web site: Statement from Gary Anandasangaree. ekuruvi.com. July 15, 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150630135028/http://ekuruvi.com/gary-anandasangaree-2014-june/ekuruviTamilNews. June 30, 2015.
  7. News: Wong. Jan. Clark. Campbell. Tamils force Ottawa to grab the Tigers' tail. The Globe and Mail. January 8, 2005. August 28, 2017. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304142347/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/tamils-force-ottawa-to-grab-the-tigers-tail/article1112521/?page=all. live.
  8. Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau visits Tamil Fest Street Festival. Monsoon Journal. September 2015. 10. 4. 1. 2015-10-24. 2016-03-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20160319221811/https://issuu.com/monsoonjournal/docs/mj_sep_2015_web. live.
  9. News: Gary Anandasangaree To Seek Federal Liberal Nomination In Scarborough. seithy.com. October 7, 2013. October 24, 2015. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304214152/http://www.seithy.com/breifArticle.php?newsID=94400&category=EnglishNews&language=english. live.
  10. Web site: Gary Anandasangaree. Gary Anandasangaree and Associates. 2015-10-24. 2015-10-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20151009205515/http://galaw.ca/gary_anandasangaree.php. live.
  11. News: Gary Anandasangaree elected to Canadian Parliament. Daily News (Sri Lanka). Global News. October 20, 2015. October 24, 2015. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304094229/http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=local/gary-anandasangaree-elected-canadian-parliament. live.
  12. Web site: Grads create first-ever scholarship in Tamil studies. York University. October 14, 2014. October 24, 2015. September 29, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150929014830/http://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2014/10/14/grads-create-first-ever-scholarship-in-tamil-studies/. live.
  13. News: Gary A'sangaree launches bid for Federal Liberal nomination. Ceylon Today. October 14, 2013.
  14. News: Gary Anandasangaree wins in Scarborough-Rouge for Liberals. Tamil CNN. October 20, 2015. October 24, 2015. November 18, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151118120420/http://www.tamilcnn.ca/gary-anandasangaree-wins-in-scarborough-rouge-for-liberals.html. live.
  15. News: Nathaniel. Camelia. LTTE's Gary Anandasangaree To Enter Canadian Politics?. The Sunday Leader. May 25, 2014. October 24, 2015. October 25, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151025160223/http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/05/25/lttes-gary-anandasangaree-to-enter-canadian-politics. live.
  16. News: Jayasekara. Bandula. Guerrilla diplomacy and Wild West tactics in Toronto. The Island (Sri Lanka). July 6, 2015. October 24, 2015. November 18, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151118115312/http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=127761. live.
  17. News: Fernando. Manjula. Govt to ban LTTE fronts?. Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). March 30, 2014. October 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151118022340/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2014/03/30/new20.asp. November 18, 2015. live.
  18. News: Sangaree's son Gary elected to Canadian Parliament. The Island (Sri Lanka). October 21, 2015. October 24, 2015. December 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222080211/http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=133863. live.
  19. News: Gary Anandasangaree of Liberal party won the nomination election for the Scarborough Rouge Park constituency. Tamil CNN. August 21, 2014. October 24, 2015. December 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222113041/http://www.tamilcnn.ca/gary-anandasangaree-of-liberal-party-won-the-nomination-election-for-the-scarborough-rouge-park-constituency.html. live.
  20. News: Anandasangaree's Son To Contest Canada's General Election. Asian Mirror. August 22, 2014. October 24, 2015. December 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222092357/http://asianmirror.lk/news/item/2917-anandasangaree-s-son-to-contest-canada-s-general-election. live.
  21. News: Gary Anandasangaree – A Sri Lankan Tamil Origin Elected To Canadian Parliament. Asian Tribune. October 21, 2015. October 24, 2015. October 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151022185617/http://www.asiantribune.com/node/88067. live.
  22. News: Gary Anandasangaree wins Scarborough-Rouge Park for Liberals. adaderana.lk. October 20, 2015. October 24, 2015. December 22, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222104750/http://www.adaderana.lk/news/32755/gary-anandasangaree-wins-scarborough-rouge-park-for-liberals. live.
  23. Hansard, 2015-12-10 14:12 [p.236]
  24. Web site: McGregor. Janyce. Meet the Commons committees of the 42nd Parliament. CBC News. 1 February 2016. 31 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160131235712/http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/house-commons-standing-committees-list-1.3425906. live.
  25. Web site: 2021-12-03. Prime Minister welcomes new parliamentary secretaries. 2021-12-07. Prime Minister of Canada. en. 2023-07-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20230708170106/https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2021/12/03/prime-minister-welcomes-new-parliamentary-secretaries. live.
  26. Web site: 2023-07-26 . Prime Minister announces changes to the Ministry . 2023-07-26 . Prime Minister of Canada . en . 2023-07-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230726150308/https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2023/07/26/prime-minister-announces-changes-ministry . live .

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