Sathiyasangaree "Gary" Anandasangaree () is a Canadian politician and a lawyer who has been

Minister of Public Safety The minister of public safety and emergency preparedness () is the minister of the Crown responsible for Public Safety Canada and a member of the Cabinet of Canada. The portfolio succeeded the role of Solicitor General of Canada in 2005. Gary ...

since 2025. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, Anandasangaree was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 2015 and currently serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park. Anandasangaree was previously the minister of Crown–Indigenous relations and northern affairs from December 2024 to May 2025 and

minister of justice and attorney general of Canada The minister of justice and attorney general of Canada () is a dual-role portfolio in the Cabinet of Canada, Canadian Cabinet. The officeholder in the role of Minister of Justice () serves as the minister of the Crown responsible for the Depar ...

from March to May 2025. He is a Tamil-Canadian, and the second minister of Tamil descent to hold office, following Anita Anand.

Early life and family

Anandasangaree, born in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

in 1973, is the son of V. Anandasangaree, a leading

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

politician, by his second wife, Yogam. His parents separated in 1980 and he and his mother moved to Ireland, where she had relatives. They had planned to return to Sri Lanka in July 1983; but when the Black July anti-Tamil riots broke out, Anandasangaree and his mother travelled to Canada on August 31, 1983. Anandasangaree is estranged from his father and has only met him twice since 1983. After high school Anandasangaree attended

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, graduating in 1996 with a B.A.

honours degree Honours degree has various meanings in the context of different degrees and education systems. Most commonly it refers to a variant of the undergraduate bachelor's degree containing a larger volume of material or a higher standard of study, ...

in political science. He is married and has two children, Bairavi and Sahanah.

Career

Anandasangaree worked in real estate as a registered real estate broker between 1996 and 2006. Anandasangaree studied at the

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

, the law faculty of

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. He graduated in 2005 with a LL.B. degree and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 2006. Anandasangaree is the principal lawyer at Gary Anandasangaree and Associates, a Toronto law firm specialising in business, real estate and international human rights law. He is a member of

The Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; ), its name was changed by statu ...

Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was ...

Ontario Bar Association The Ontario Bar Association (OBA) is a bar association representing more than 16,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Ontario. It is also a branch of the Canadian Bar Association. Approximately two-thirds of a ...

and South Asian Bar Association. 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). He has also lectured at the Centennial College Centre for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He has received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

. He has also been awarded the TREB Award and Henry Marshall Tory Award for Service. Anandasangaree has been a vocal campaigner against

human rights abuses Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

during the Sri Lankan Civil War and has attended several sessions of the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

. This has led to Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists labelling Anandasangaree as a member of the

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

(LTTE).

Political career

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

and

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

. Anandasangaree sat on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development committee in the

42nd Canadian Parliament The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octob ...

. 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 the

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada The minister of justice and attorney general of Canada () is a dual-role portfolio in the Cabinet of Canada, Canadian Cabinet. The officeholder in the role of Minister of Justice () serves as the minister of the Crown responsible for the Depar ...

. On July 26, 2023, Anandasangaree became the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. In the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, he endorsed

Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anandasangaree, Gary Activists from Toronto Attorneys general of Canada Canadian activists Canadian people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Carleton University alumni Lawyers in Ontario Living people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Members of the 30th Canadian Ministry Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Politicians from Toronto Sri Lankan emigrants to Canada Sri Lankan Tamil activists Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Tamil politicians Canadian people of Sri Lankan descent People from Markham, Ontario 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 1973 births