Indian-origin Anita Anand becomes Canada's new Defence Minister after Cabinet reshuffle

Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet on Tuesday, October 26, appointing Indian-origin Canadian politician Anita Anand as the country's new Defence Minister. Justin Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet over a month after his Liberal Party returned to power in the snap polls and amid calls for major military reforms.

The 54-year old Anita Anand will be replacing Indian-origin Harjit Sajjan, a long-term defence minister who has been criticized for the handling of the military sexual misconduct crisis. While according to the National Post newspaper report, Sajjan has been appointed as Minister of International Development Agency. 

In the parliamentary polls last month, Anita Anand, along with Sajjan and Bardish Chagger were the three Indo-Canadian ministers who emerged victorious in the dissolved Cabinet. 

Who is Anita Anand?

As per Global News reports, defence industry experts had recommended Anand as a strong contender for the position and also stated that this move will send a powerful signal to survivors and victims of military sexual misconduct of which the government is serious about imposing critical reforms. Recently, the public and political leaders are pressuring the Canadian military to change its culture and create a system to prevent and manage sexual misconduct allegations. 

The report further said that Anita Anand holds a strong background as a corporate lawyer and has served extensively on corporate governance particularly in line with the laws and rules in place to manage the operations of businesses. 

With a nearly 46 per cent vote share, Anand was declared the winner in Oakville. In 2019, she was first elected as a rookie Member of Parliament representing Oakville in Ontario province and worked as procurement minister during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. She then took charge of securing COVID-19 vaccines for the country and was often on the campaign trail with Trudeau. She played a very public role in the Liberal response to the health crisis, as former Minister of Public Services and Procurement. 

Anita Anand thanked the volunteers for her win who had worked very hard as a team for five weeks straight. According to Oakville News, speaking of her victory, Anand said, "I'm just ecstatic". 

(Image: @AnitaAnand/TWITTER)