News
Gary gets key ministry in new Canadian Cabinet
… responsible for agencies tasked with national security, including intelligence
MP Gary Anandasangaree, of Sri Lankan Tamil origin, has been appointed as the Minister of Public Safety in Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new Cabinet, Canadian media reported yesterday (14)
Anandasangaree will oversee key agencies tasked with Canada’s national security, including the Canada Border Services Agency, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Anandasangaree previously served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General — the first Tamil-Canadian to do so — under Carney’s first Cabinet in March. He held this role alongside that of Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, to which he was appointed under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s final Cabinet in December 2024.
Anandasangaree was re-elected into his local riding with an overwhelming majority in the federal election in April, continuing his position as a Member of Parliament in Scarborough-Guildwood-Rouge Park (previously Scarborough-Rouge Park) since 2015.
The Tamil Guardian reported that Anandasangaree, a lawyer and a long-time advocate for Tamil rights, has played an instrumental role in pushing for justice for war crimes and accountability for the genocide in Sri Lanka. He drove the implementation of sanctions by the Canadian government against Sri Lankan officials implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He also championed parliamentary efforts to formally recognise May 18th as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, with Canada becoming the first country in the world to do so — a move that was widely welcomed by Tamil survivors and human rights advocates.
Anandasangaree is a member of Carney’s new Cabinet of 28 ministers, who will be supported by 10 secretaries of state. Anita Anand, an MP of Indian Tamil descent, was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Carney, who replaced Trudeau as the Prime Minister in March, led the Liberal Party to a fourth consecutive mandate, but fell two seats short of the threshold of 172 seats needed to secure a majority government.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation to determine the price of the maize by a committee appointed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation in the future and to import only the quantity of maize that could not be supplied locally for the production of animal feed, under the supervision of the Department of Animal Production and Health.
The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the joint resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development and the Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development to phase the removal of Cess tax imposed on imported goods under 2,634 combined classification codes identified over 4 years [from 2026 to 2029\.
Around 140 people are missing after an Iranian navy ship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan navy says around 180 people were on board, with 32 rescued. A spokesman tells the BBC the cause of the sinking is not known
Sri Lanka’s navy has confirmed that it’s rescued 32 people after it received a distress call from Iranian navy ship ‘IRIS Dena’ early this morning.
Budhika Sampath, the spokesman of Sri Lanka’s navy says: “Though it was beyond our waters, it was within our search and rescue region. So we were obliged to respond as per international obligations.”
He adds: “We found people floating on the water, rescued them, and later when we inquired we found that those people are from an Iranian ship.”
He also says that according to the documentation of the ship 180 people are believed to have been on board, although the exact number of missing is unknown.
The spokesman says at the time of launching the rescue operations they did not see the vessel but saw oil patches on the water and floating life rafts.
He also tells the BBC that he rejects the reports of a submarine attack causing the sinking, and that the cause is unknown.
Earlier the secretary of the country’s defence ministry Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuiyakontha told BBC Sinhala that around 140 people are thought to be missing.
So far, Sri Lanka’s military has not been able to confirm what might have caused the ship to sink.
[BBC]
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