Sathiyasangaree "Gary" Anandasangaree (; born 1973) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has been Minister of Public Safety since 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, Anandasangaree was elected to the House of Commons in 2015 and currently serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for ScarboroughâÂÂGuildwoodâÂÂRouge Park.
Anandasangaree was previously Minister of CrownâÂÂIndigenous Relations and Northern Affairs from 2024 to 2025 and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from March to May 2025. He is only the second minister of Tamil descent to hold federal office, following Anita Anand.
Anandasangaree, born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka in 1973, is the son of V. Anandasangaree, a leading Sri Lankan Tamil 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, graduating in 1996 with a B.A. honours degree in political science. He is married and has two children, Bairavi and Sahanah.
Anandasangaree worked in real estate as a registered real estate broker between 1996 and 2006.
Anandasangaree studied at the Osgoode Hall Law School, the law faculty of York University. He graduated in 2005 with a LL.B. degree and was called to the bar 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, Canadian Bar Association, Ontario Bar Association and South Asian Bar Association.
Anandasangaree has served on various community groups: Canadian Tamilsâ 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 SummitâÂÂs 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. 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 during the Sri Lankan Civil War and has attended several sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council. This has led to Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists labelling Anandasangaree as a member of the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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 ScarboroughâÂÂRouge 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 Carleton University and University of Ottawa.
Anandasangaree sat on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development committee in the 42nd Canadian Parliament. 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.
On July 26, 2023, Anandasangaree became the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. As minister, he introduced reconciliation-focused legislation, including the National Council for Reconciliation Act, which became law, as well as bills recognizing Métis governments and modern treaty implementation. He also concluded seven modern treaties, signed a 10-year funding blueprint under the Nunavut Agreement, and announced more than 30 agreements and settlements advancing Indigenous self-determination and reconciliation. In February 2025, he signed a historic agreement with the Haida Nation recognizing Aboriginal title over Haida Gwaii (previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), marking the first time the federal government formally acknowledged title through negotiations.
In the 2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, he endorsed Mark Carney. In March 2025, following Mark CarneyâÂÂs swearing-in as prime minister, Anandasangaree was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada while retaining his role as Minister of CrownâÂÂIndigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.
Anandasangaree, as Canada's Minister of Public Safety, introduced Bill C-2, the âÂÂStrong Borders Act,â in 2025, the first bill tabled by the government in the House of Commons following Prime Minister Mark Carney's election. The legislation proposed stricter border and immigration measures, including a one-year deadline for certain refugee claims, expanded powers to suspend or cancel immigration documents, broader information sharing between government agencies, and changes to Canada's application of the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. The bill drew criticism from refugee advocates and legal scholars who argued that some provisions could undermine refugee protections and conflict with Canada's international obligations under refugee law. Some commentators also described the bill as hypocritical in light of AnandasangareeâÂÂs previous advocacy on refugee and human rights issues affecting Tamils.
In June 2025, Anandasangaree indicated he would step back from national security decisions related to the Tamil community. He stated âÂÂIn an abundance of caution, and to ensure that there is no perception of any conflict, I have asked Public Safety officials to implement a screen on any national security issues relating to the Tamil community.âÂÂ
Less than one week later, Anandasangaree announced he would be recusing himself from âÂÂany matter related to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) or the World Tamil Movement.âÂÂ, both designated terrorist organizations in Canada.
In July 2025, Global News reported that before his appointment to cabinet, Anandasangaree wrote letters urging Canadian officials to approve the immigration application of an individual who was a member of the LTTE.
In September 2025, a phone call was leaked involving Anandasangaree and his tenant that resulted in public backlash. In the call, he suggested that the government's gun buyback program was politically motivated by voter sentiment in Quebec. He also suggested that he would personally pay the difference between the buyback compensation and what the tenant paid for their gun, and that the tenant shouldn't worry about being arrested for refusing to turn in a banned firearm because he doubted municipal police have the resources to enforce the law.
In response to the leaked call, Aanandasangree said that offering to personally compensate the tenant was wrong, but that he was joking. Government opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre called on Prime Minister Mark Carney to fire Anandasangaree. Carney responded that "I have confidence in the minister who is doing important work".
Several jurisdictions have refused to participate in the buyback program.
In March 2026, Anandasangaree voted against Bill C-233, the No More Loopholes Act, a bill that proposed requiring Canadian military exports to the United States to undergo the same permit review and human-rights risk assessments applied to exports to other countries. The bill sought to amend the <i>Export and Import Permits Act</i> by closing a longstanding exemption that allows many Canadian defence exports destined for the United States to proceed without individual permits, case-by-case risk assessments, or public reporting. The bill was defeated at second reading in the House of Commons and did not proceed to committee study.
<p>AnandasangareeâÂÂs vote attracted criticism from some commentators and advocacy groups because of his earlier career as a human rights lawyer who had advocated for accountability in cases involving mass atrocities, including on behalf of Tamil Canadians affected by Sri LankaâÂÂs civil war. Critics argued that opposing legislation intended to expand oversight and human-rights screening of arms exports appeared inconsistent with those earlier commitments.</p>