Brampton West MP Kamal Khera becomes minister for seniors, Bardish Chagger dropped
The Canadian Bazaar
TORONTO: Canada’s first Hindu Cabinet minister Indira Anita Anand made history on Tuesday by becoming the country’s second-ever woman defence minister by replacing fellow Indo-Canadian Harjit Sajjan as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled his new Cabinet.
Sajjan will be the new minister of international affairs.
Another Indo-Canadian woman Kamal Khera, the 32-year-old MP from Brampton West, has been inducted as minister for seniors to give representation the Liberal Party’s huge Sikh votebank of Brampton.
The sitting Indo-Canadian woman minister Bardish Chagger, who held the Ministry of Diversity, Inclusion and Youth of Canada, has been dropped.
Trudeau ‘demoted’ Harjit Sajjan for failing to address the allegations of sexual misconduct in the Canadian military and rewarded Anita Anand and Kamal Khera for their work during the pandemic.
Anand has got the new job because of her work as Canada’s procurement minister and Khera – a registered nurse – for going back to work as a health care provider at the peak of the pandemic. A three-time MP since 2015, Khera has also served as a parliamentary secretary to the ministers of health and international trade.
Anita was born in 1967 in Nova Scotia to Indian parents who were both medical professionals. Her mother Saroj D. Ram came from Punjab and father S.V. Anand from Tamil Nadu.
Anita, who is on leave as a professor of law at the University of Toronto, was picked up as minister of public service and procurement by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2019 after her election as MP from Oakville near Toronto.
Anita assisted the Air India Inquiry Commission with extensive research. The commission investigated the bombing of Air India Kanishka Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, that killed all 329 people on board.
Before Anita Anand, Canada’s only woman defence minister was former Prime Minister Kim Campbell who held the portfolio for six months from January 4 to June 25 in 1993.
In the new 39-member Cabinet, three ministers are also openly gay/lesbian – Pascale St-Onge, Randy Boissonnault and Seamus O’Regan Jr.
Here is the list of Trudeau‘s new Cabinet:
- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland
- Minister of Defence Anita Anand
- Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada Harjit Sajjan
- Minister of Seniors Kamal Khera
- Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra
- Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion Ahmed Hussen
- Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser
- Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly
- Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health Carolyn Bennett
- Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Marie-Claude Bibeau
- President of Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair
- Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance Randy Boissonnault
- Minister of Innovation, Science and Commerce Francois-Phillipe Champagne
- Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos
- President, Treasury Board Mona Fortier
- Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould
- Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault
- Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario Patty Hajdu
- Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Mark Holland
- Minister of Rural Economic Development Gudie Hutchings
- Minister of Women, Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien
- Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario Helena Jaczek
- Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada David Lametti
- Minister of intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities Dominic Leblanc
- Minister of National Revenue Diane Lebouthillier
- Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Lawrence MacAulay
- Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino
- Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Marc Miller
- Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray
- Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development Mary Ng
- Minister of Labour Seamus O’Regan Jr.
- Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Ginette Petitpas Taylor
- Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough
- Minister of Canadian Heritage and Quebec Lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez
- Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec Pascale St-Onge
- Minister of Public Services and Procurement Filomena Tassi
- Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency Dan Vandal
- Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson
READ NEXT: 17 Indo-Canadians elected as Trudeau fails to win majority again
