Ottawa:
Anita Anand has announced that she is withdrawing from the race for Canada’s prime minister and will not seek re-election to Parliament. Transport Minister Anand said Saturday afternoon that he will follow Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s example and begin the next chapter of his career by returning to academia.
Two other prominent politicians, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Finance Minister Dominique Leblanc, are also up for election as the Liberal leadership and the premiership are stalled in an election that favors the opposition Conservative Party and its leader Pierre-Marcel Poièvre. Withdrew from the battle. He will replace Prime Minister Trudeau, who announced his decision to resign last week.
In an announcement on ” he said. I then return to my previous professional life of teaching, research, and public policy analysis. ”
An expert in business and financial law, she was a tenured professor of law at the University of Toronto. After serving as a guest lecturer at Yale University in the United States, she entered politics and became a member of Parliament from Oakville, Ontario in 2019.
Regarding her hometown, she said, “During my first campaign, many people told me that a woman of Indian descent would not be elected in Oakville, Ontario. However, Oakville has been elected not once but twice since 2019. I’m honored that they have rallied behind me.” will remain in my heart forever. ”
Her father, SV Anand, was the son of a freedom fighter from Sundaram, Tamil Nadu, and her mother, Saroj Ram, was from Punjab and both were doctors who immigrated to Canada.
She joined Trudeau’s cabinet in 2019 as Minister of Public Services and Procurement and was credited with ensuring Canada had enough medical equipment and vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, she received the high-profile defense portfolio and, in a cabinet reshuffle, became chair of the Finance Committee, a cabinet-level post with broad oversight of government operations.
Last year, she became Minister of Transport and added a domestic trade portfolio.
Reflecting on her rapid rise through the ranks in government, she wrote, “In 2019, jobs like this were navigating supply chains to overcome a global pandemic and sexual assault in the Canadian Forces.” “Never could I have imagined that it would mean addressing issues and ensuring military aid gets to Ukraine,” overseeing the Treasury Board Secretariat, or strengthening Canada’s transportation system. ”
Prime Minister Trudeau, whose popularity has plummeted, said he would resign once a new Liberal leader is elected who will automatically become prime minister under the watchful eye of party president Sashit Mela.
The party announced that elections would be completed by March 9, ahead of parliament resuming on March 24.
Opposition parties have threatened to introduce an immediate no-confidence motion, which would force an election to be held earlier than October, when the lower house’s term expires.
An Abacus poll following Prime Minister Trudeau’s announcement showed the opposition Conservative Party with a 27% lead, followed by 47% support among voters and the Liberal Party with 20%.
With less than weeks or months left to turn around the Liberal Party’s fortunes, leaders are reluctant to take the premiership in the short term, leaving the party almost certain to win the parliamentary election. will be defeated.
US President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on imported goods if Ottawa does not crack down on illegal immigration into the US has rattled Canadian politics.
Mr. Joly and Mr. LeBlanc, whose portfolios directly address the threat posed by President Trump, said they were withdrawing from the race to focus on the threat posed by Mr. Trump.
The front-runners include Chrystia Freeland, who was forced out of her position as deputy prime minister by Prime Minister Trudeau, and Mark Carney, an economist and banker with a unique background having served as governor of the Bank of England and the Bank of Canada. Mr. Currently remaining in the race.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
