OTTAWA, Jan 8: When Liberal Party President Sachit Mehra conducts the election for the successor to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, another Indo-Canadian Anita Anand may emerge as the compromise candidate to lead the nation.
Likely front-runners in the race to succeed Trudeau are Chrystia Freeland, who was forced out by him by taking away her finance portfolio; Trudeau’s close friend Dominic LeBlanc, who was appointed to replace Freeland; Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, who led the diplomatic charge against India, and economist and banker Mark Carney, who has the unique distinction of having been the governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada.
Against this roster of big-name front-runners with their established bases, Transport Minister Anita Anand has emerged as a candidate who could bridge the factions and become the winner, working her way through voting rounds to the 50 per cent mark.
Anand was appointed the public services and procurement minister in 2019.
After the 2021 election, she became the defence minister. She led Canada’s efforts to help Ukraine fight Russia’s invasion, providing both material support and training.
Anand was moved in a cabinet reshuffle to become the President of the Treasury Board.
Last year, she became the transport minister and added the internal trade portfolio.
Her father is from Tamil Nadu, and her mother is from Punjabi, both doctors who worked in Nova Scotia Province, where she was born.
Anand, 57, is a lawyer trained at Oxford and Dalhousie University in Canada. (IANS)
