Indian-origin leader Anita Anand has been appointed as the second woman defence minister in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reshuffled his cabinet on Tuesday after winning the Canadian election last month, in which Anita Anand was made Defence Minister. PM Trudeau's party 'Liberal Party' came to power more than a month ago and changes are being discussed in the defence sector.
Anita Anand (54) will replace Indian-origin Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan, who has been criticized for not properly handling cases of sexual abuse in the army. According to a news published in the National Post newspaper, Sajjan has been made the Minister of International Development Agency.
Prior to Anita Anand, Canada's only female defence minister was former Prime Minister Kim Campbell, who held the position for six months from January 4 to June 25 in 1993. After being made the Defence Minister, Anita Anand said that my top priority is to make sure that everyone in the army feels safe and they have all the support they need. Apart from Anita Anand, Kamal Khera, the second woman of Indian origin, has been made a minister for senior citizens. Also, she is the MP for Brampton West. However, with this, the number of Indian-origin ministers in PM Trudeau's cabinet has gone up to three. Two of the six ministers inducted into the Trudeau cabinet are of Indian origin.
Indian-Canadian leader Anita Anand was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia in 1967. However, her mother is Punjabi and her father is Tamil. Her mother's name was Saroj D Ram, who was an anesthesiologist and her father SV Anand was a general surgeon. Anita Anand also has two sisters, whose names are Geeta Anand and Sonia Anand. Geeta Anand is a lawyer in Toronto and Sonia Anand is a doctor and researcher at McMaster University. Anita Anand's husband's name is John and both have four children.