Gary Anandasangaree | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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கரி ஆனந்தசங்கரி | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) Anandasangaree in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Public Safety | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office May 13, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Mark Carney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David McGuinty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament forScarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park Scarborough—Rouge Park (2015–2025) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Riding established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Sathiyasangaree Anandasangaree 1973 (age 51–52) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship | Canada Sri Lanka (former) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Liberal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | V. Anandasangaree | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Markham, Ontario, Canada[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profession | Lawyer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sathiyasangaree "Gary" Anandasangaree (Tamil:சத்தியசங்கரி ஆனந்தசங்கரி; born 1973) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has beenMinister of Public Safety since 2025. A member of theLiberal Party, Anandasangaree was elected to theHouse of Commons in 2015 and currently serves as themember of Parliament (MP) forScarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park.
Anandasangaree was previouslyMinister of Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs from 2024 to 2025 andMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from March to May 2025. He is only the second minister of Tamil descent to hold federal office, followingAnita Anand.
Anandasangaree, born inJaffna, Sri Lanka in 1973, is the son ofV. Anandasangaree, a leadingSri Lankan Tamil politician,[2] by his second wife, Yogam.[3] His parents separated in 1980 and he and his mother moved to Ireland, where she had relatives.[4] They had planned to return to Sri Lanka in July 1983; but when theBlack July anti-Tamil riots broke out,[4] Anandasangaree and his mother travelled to Canada on August 31, 1983.[4][5] Anandasangaree is estranged from his father and has only met him twice since 1983.[4][5]
After high school Anandasangaree attendedCarleton University, graduating in 1996 with aB.A.honours degree in political science.[5][6][7] He is married and has two children, Bairavi and Sahanah.[7]
Anandasangaree worked in real estate as a registered real estate broker between 1996 and 2006.[8]
Anandasangaree studied at theOsgoode Hall Law School, the law faculty ofYork University.[9] He graduated in 2005 with aLL.B. degree and wascalled to the bar in 2006.[9][10] Anandasangaree is the principal lawyer at Gary Anandasangaree and Associates, a Toronto law firm specialising in business, real estate and international human rights law.[11] He is a member ofThe Law Society of Upper Canada,Canadian Bar Association,Ontario Bar Association and South Asian Bar Association.[8]
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).[6][8] He has also lectured at the Centennial College Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.[8] He has received theQueen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal andQueen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[6] He has also been awarded the TREB Award and Henry Marshall Tory Award for Service.[6][8]
Anandasangaree has been a vocal campaigner againsthuman rights abuses during theSri Lankan Civil War and has attended several sessions of theUnited Nations Human Rights Council.[12][13] This has led toSinhalese Buddhist nationalists labelling Anandasangaree as a member of themilitantLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).[14][15][16]
Anandasangaree became active in politics after joining the Liberal Party.[12] In October 2013 Anandasangaree announced that he would be seeking the Liberal nomination for theScarborough—Rouge Park for the2015 federal election.[7] He won the nomination election held in August 2014.[17][18] He won the election held on October 19, 2015, securing 29,906 votes (60.1%).[19][20]
Anandasangaree continued his advocacy for human rights in Parliament, speaking onInternational Human Rights Day about welcomingSyrian refugees and an Iranian scholar (Dr. Hossein Raessi) who was protected due to a joint program betweenCarleton University andUniversity of Ottawa.[21]
Anandasangaree sat on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development committee in the42nd Canadian Parliament.[22] He was Parliamentary Secretary to Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller in May 2021, and on December 3 of that year was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.[23]
On July 26, 2023, Anandasangaree became theMinister of Crown-Indigenous Relations.[24] As minister, he introduced reconciliation-focused legislation, including the National Council for Reconciliation Act, which became law, as well as bills recognizing Métis governments and modern treaty implementation.[25] He also concluded seven modern treaties, signed a 10-year funding blueprint under the Nunavut Agreement, and announced more than 30 agreements and settlements advancing Indigenous self-determination and reconciliation.[26] In February 2025, he signed a historic agreement with the Haida Nation recognizing Aboriginal title over Haida Gwaii, marking the first time the federal government formally acknowledged title through negotiations.[27]
In the2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, he endorsedMark Carney.[28] In March 2025, following Mark Carney’s swearing-in as prime minister, Anandasangaree was appointedMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada while retaining his role asMinister of Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.[29]
In June 2025, Anandasangaree indicated he would step back from national security decisions related to the Tamil community. “In an abundance of caution, and to ensure that there is no perception of any conflict, I have asked Public Safety officials to implement a screen on any national security issues relating to the Tamil community.”[30] Less than one week later, Anandasangaree announced he would abstain from involvement in issues regarding LTTE, recusing himself from “any matter related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or the World Tamil Movement.”[31] In July 2025,Global News reported that before his appointment to cabinet, Anandasangaree wrote letters urging Canadian officials to approve the immigration application of an individual who was a member of the LTTE.[32] In September 2025, a phone call was leaked involving Anandasangaree and his tenant, where he suggested that the government's gun buyback program was not effective.[33]
| 2025 Canadian federal election:Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ** Preliminary results — Not yet official ** | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Gary Anandasangaree | 35,343 | 63.94 | +2.66 | ||||
| Conservative | Suchita Jalan | 17,529 | 31.71 | +9.64 | ||||
| New Democratic | Kingsley Kwok | 1,770 | 3.20 | –10.18 | ||||
| Green | Troy Rife | 635 | 1.15 | N/A | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 55,277 | 65.89 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 83,894 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional hold | Swing | –3.49 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[34][35] | ||||||||
| 2021 Canadian federal election:Scarborough—Rouge Park | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Gary Anandasangaree | 28,702 | 62.8 | +0.6 | ||||
| Conservative | Zia Choudhary | 9,628 | 21.1 | +1.0 | ||||
| New Democratic | Kingsley Kwok | 6,068 | 13.3 | +1.8 | ||||
| People's | Asad Rehman | 1,322 | 2.9 | +2.0 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 45,720 | 99.2 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 350 | 0.8 | ||||||
| Turnout | 46,070 | 61.3 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 75,105 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | −0.2 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[36] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election:Scarborough—Rouge Park | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Gary Anandasangaree | 31,360 | 62.2 | +1.96 | $93,933.93 | |||
| Conservative | Bobby Singh | 10,115 | 20.1 | −7.26 | $18,116.82 | |||
| New Democratic | Kingsley Kwok | 5,801 | 11.5 | +1.14 | none listed | |||
| Green | Jessica Hamilton | 2,330 | 4.6 | +2.57 | none listed | |||
| People's | Dilano Sally | 467 | 0.9 | – | none listed | |||
| Christian Heritage | Mark Theodoru | 353 | 0.7 | – | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 50,426 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 322 | |||||||
| Turnout | 50,748 | 66.4 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 76,408 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | +4.61 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[37][38] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election:Scarborough—Rouge Park | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Gary Anandasangaree | 29,913 | 60.24 | +25.48 | $144,189.04 | |||
| Conservative | Leslyn Lewis | 13,587 | 27.36 | -4.23 | $59,291.73 | |||
| New Democratic | KM Shanthikumar | 5,145 | 10.36 | -20.63 | $58,736.40 | |||
| Green | Calvin Winter | 1,010 | 2.03 | -0.36 | $1,457.51 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 49,655 | 100.0 | – | $204,974.26 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 235 | 0.47 | New | |||||
| Turnout | 49,890 | 69.98 | New | |||||
| Eligible voters | 71,291 | |||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[39][40] | ||||||||
