Anita Anand named Foreign Minister of Canada: All about the lawyer, researcher, scholar

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won the national elections last month, announced his new cabinet on Tuesday. Among other ministers, he named Anita Anand the foreign minister, replacing Melanie Joly. Carney cut the number of ministers to 29 from the 39 under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar congratulated Anita Anand on social media. “Congratulate @AnitaAnandMP on your appointment as Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,” he said. 

WHO IS ANITA ANAND?

Anita Anand was born and raised in rural Nova Scotia, from where she moved to Ontario in 1985. She is the daughter of late Saroj D Ram, an anesthesiologist, who hailed from Punjab, and S.V. (Andy) Anand, a general surgeon, who hailed from Punjab. Her parents moved from Nigeria to Kentville in Nova Scotia, where they raised their three daughters.

She pursued a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies from Queen’s University, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Jurisprudence from the University of Oxford, a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University, and a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto. 

She joined the Bar of Ontario in 1994. 

A scholar, lawyer, researcher, Anita Anand was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Oakville in 2019, and was re-elected in 2021. She has served as the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry most recently, as well as Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, President of the Treasury Board, Minister of National Defence, and Minister of Public Services and Procurement prior to that.

Anand is known for her work in negotiating contracts to secure vaccines, personal protective equipment and rapid tests for Canadians during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

She had, after that, also served as the Minister of National Defence, striving to bring about a cultural change in the Canadian armed forces as well as to root out sexual misconduct from there. 

Anand has also acted as the President of the Treasury Board, spearheading a government-wide spending review and worked to reduce red tape for small businesses and entrepreneurs. She also played a role in Canada securing its first-ever high-speed rail project. 

Anita and her husband John raise their four children in Oakville.