SoVote

Hon. Anita Anand

Member of Parliament
President of the Treasury Board
Liberal

Oakville
Ontario
Voting Attendance: 60%
Expenses Last Quarter: $137,107.74

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 220 - Sep/19/23

Hon. Anita Anand (President of the Treasury Board, Lib.)

Sep/19/23 7:58:37 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as you may be aware, I come from a family originally from India. Both of my parents came from India. They have passed now, but my father was from Tamil Nadu and my mother was from Jandiala Guru, a small town outside Amritsar. Many years ago, they immigrated to the province where you hail from, Mr. Chair, Nova Scotia, and settled in a small rural town of 5,000 people. I was born there. Life was good there. I really like the province of Nova Scotia. I want to say that, regardless of where we hail from, we all in this country should always defend the rule of law, human rights and Canadian sovereignty free from foreign interference. That is ironclad and what I am here to speak about this evening. When I was young, we were one of the very few South Asian families in the province at the time. That did not matter because the people of Kemptville, Nova Scotia, embraced our family and we had a wonderful childhood there. I will say that is the story of towns and cities across this country. In fact, it defines Canada, and we need to hang on to the respect and integrity that typifies so many towns and cities across our country. My parents' way of raising us was to enrol us in all of the extracurricular activities they possibly could so that we felt as though we were very much a part of the community, but I, like many children of immigrants, understand the anxiety, emotions and affinity people have regarding their ancestral home. We have all learned to embrace our backgrounds and all they entail as part of the Canadian identity. Diversity and inclusion are our biggest strengths. My ethnic background is part and parcel of my entire identity, which is made up of different components, including being a mother, a professor, now a member of Parliament, a Canadian and a Canadian of Indian origin in fact. I am a Canadian who is very proud of my Punjabi and Tamil heritage. Yesterday, like so many, I was appalled to learn about the credible allegations of possible involvement by a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. I want to extend my deepest sympathies to the family and loved ones of Hardeep who are having to relive this horrific incident. My thoughts are with them and, today especially, I am thinking about my parents and what this means for so many of us who have our roots in India. I know this is a very difficult time and as the process unfolds it will continue to be difficult, but I want to be very clear that our government takes any and all allegations of foreign actor interference in Canada extremely seriously. Canada is a country that is governed by the rule of law, and the protection of our citizens and the defence of our sovereignty are fundamental to our society, to our security and indeed to our very being. As the Prime Minister said, we must let law enforcement and security agencies take their course for the continued safety of all Canadians and we must take all necessary steps to hold the perpetrators to account. Today I have shared things that I have never shared in this House of Commons before, because we do need to remain unified and empathetic, and we must remain a country where our democratic principles and the rule of law are protected. All Canadians have the right to feel safe in their communities and free to practise their religion of their choice, and our government will always protect this right. I hope that we can remain united and allow the justice system to run its course, but I want to echo what the Prime Minister said. We will remain committed to democratic principles, the rule of law and human rights.

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All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 63 - May/3/22

Hon. Anita Anand (Minister of National Defence, Lib.)

May/3/22 3:07:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic is secure and well established. We are taking action and making landmark investments to increase our Arctic sovereignty, including conducting joint exercises in the Arctic, purchasing six Arctic offshore patrol ships and enhancing surveillance and intelligence capability in the Arctic with the procurement of 88 fighter jets. We will remain firm and unwavering in the defence of the Arctic and of our continental security more generally.

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Context: House Hansard - 40 - Mar/3/22

Hon. Anita Anand (Minister of National Defence, Lib.)

Mar/3/22 2:29:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that our government is very serious about protecting our sovereignty in the North and the Arctic. What we are going to do is continue working with the United States for our continent and our country. We also have the Coast Guard working for us.

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Context: House Hansard - 37 - Feb/28/22

Hon. Anita Anand (Minister of National Defence, Lib.)

Feb/28/22 2:33:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for raising the issue of Arctic sovereignty, which our government takes extremely seriously. We are making landmark investments in this area, conducting joint exercises in the Arctic, purchasing six Arctic offshore patrol ships and enhancing surveillance. We will remain firm and unwavering in the protection of our Arctic, including in modernizing NORAD.

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