Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resigned as the head of state and leader of the ruling Liberal Party after a nine-year tenure in office and mounting pressure from within his party for a leadership change. With only two months left until the March 24 deadline for selecting a new leader, the race for his successor has heated up. The country’s parliament will remain suspended until the Liberal Party elects a new leader.
Who Is Anita Anand ? Top Contender To Replace Trudeau
Why In News
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has resigned as the head of state and leader of the ruling Liberal Party after a nine-year tenure in office and mounting pressure from within his party for a leadership change.
- With only two months left until the March 24 deadline for selecting a new leader, the race for his successor has heated up. The country’s parliament will remain suspended until the Liberal Party elects a new leader.
- Among the names being considered as potential successors are Anita Anand, the Indian-origin Transport Minister, who has emerged as one of the strongest contenders for the top post. Other prominent figures in the race include Chrystia Freeland (the former Deputy Prime Minister who resigned before Trudeau’s departure), Melanie Joly, Mark Carney, and François-Philippe Champagne.
Who Is Anita Anand
- Anita Anand is currently serving as the Minister of Transport and Internal Trade. She has held several key positions in the last five years, including Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Minister of National Defence, and President of the Treasury Board.
- Born on May 20, 1967, in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Anand is the daughter of Saroj D. Ram and S.V. Anand, doctors who immigrated to Canada from India in the early 1960s.
- Raised with humble beginnings, Anand attributes her values and professional ethics to her family’s experiences. She has two sisters, Gita and Sonia. In 1985, at the age of 18, she moved to Ontario to pursue higher education, earning a degree in political science before completing a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Jurisprudence at Oxford University.
- She later obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in law from Dalhousie University and the University of Toronto, respectively. Before entering politics, Anand had a distinguished academic career, teaching at institutions like Yale Law School and the University of Toronto. At the University of Toronto, she held the J.R. Kimber Chair in Investor Protection and Corporate Governance and served as Associate Dean and Director of Policy and Research at the Rotman School of Management’s Capital Markets Institute.
- Anand’s political journey began in 2019 when she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Oakville. As Minister of Public Services and Procurement during the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a crucial role in securing vital medical supplies, including vaccines, PPE kits, and oxygen. Her efforts earned widespread recognition.
- In 2021, she was appointed Minister of National Defence, where she spearheaded reforms to address sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces and managed Canada’s military aid to Ukraine. Later, as President of the Treasury Board, she worked to enhance transparency within Canada’s financial system.
- Since becoming Minister of Transport in 2024, Anand has focused on modernising Canada’s infrastructure, improving roads, highways, and railways, while prioritizing climate change and safety reforms in the transportation sector.
- If selected to replace Trudeau, Anita Anand would make history as the first woman of color and the first Canadian of Indian origin to become Canada’s Prime Minister.
- While Kim Campbell briefly held the position in 1993 as a Progressive Conservative, no woman from the Liberal Party has ever served in this role. Anand’s potential leadership marks a significant milestone in Canadian politics.
