Following Justin Trudeau's announcement of his resignation, speculation about Canada's next prime minister has intensified.
Among the potential candidates—Dominic LeBlanc, Chrystia Freeland, Mélanie Joly, François-Philippe Champagne, and Mark Carney—Indian-origin Anita Anand stands out as the most talked-about contender, reports the NDTV.
If elected, Anand would become Canada's first female prime minister of Indian descent.
Should Trudeau nominate her for the position, she would succeed him.
Justin Trudeau announced his resignation on 6 January, paving the way for the election of a new leader.
Currently serving as the transport minister in Trudeau's government, Anand holds a prominent position.
Profile of Anita Anand
Anita Anand, a senior member of Canada’s Liberal Party, has been a Member of Parliament since 2019, holding several key government positions.
She has previously served as the Minister of National Defence and President of the Treasury Board.
Since 2024, she has been responsible for Transport and Domestic Trade.
Born on 20 May 1967, in Kentville, Nova Scotia, Anand is the eldest of three sisters.
Her parents, Saroj D Ram and SV Anand, emigrated from India to Canada in the early 1960s.
At 18, she moved to Ontario to study political science.
She later earned a law degree from the University of Oxford, followed by further legal studies at Dalhousie University and the University of Toronto.
Anand began her professional career as a law lecturer at Yale Law School before becoming a professor of law at the University of Toronto.
There, she held the JR Kimber Chair in Investor Protection and Corporate Governance and served as associate dean and director of Policy and Research at the Capital Markets Institute of the Rotman School of Management.
In 1995, Anand married John Knowlton, a Canadian lawyer and businessman, with whom she has four children.
The family has lived in Oakville for over 21 years.
Anand's political career commenced in 2019 when she was elected as a Member of Parliament for Oakville.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a crucial role as Minister of Public Services. In 2021, she was appointed minister of national defence, overseeing significant reforms in the Canadian Armed Forces, particularly in addressing sexual harassment cases and managing military aid to Ukraine.
As transport minister, Anand currently oversees various infrastructure projects and champions clean, green initiatives in the transportation sector to combat climate change.
In Canada's history, the Progressive Conservative Party’s Kim Campbell was the first and only female prime minister, serving in 1993.
The Liberal Party has yet to have a female prime minister.
