SL born Gary Anandasangaree appointed Canadian minister

Sri Lankan born Tamil MP Gary Anandasangaree has been appointed as a Cabinet Minister in the Canadian Government.

Gary Anandasangaree is the son of former MP and Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader Veerasingham Anandasangaree.

He was among seven rookie MPs who have been promoted to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Cabinet following a major reshuffling on Wednesday.

Gary Anandasangaree was first elected in 2015 as the MP for the Toronto riding of Scarborough-Rouge Park.

On Wednesday, he was sworn in as Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, a position previously held by Marc Miller.

Anandasangaree had previously served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister, as well as to the Justice and Heritage Ministers.

Born in Sri Lanka, he arrived in Canada with his mother in 1983. Anandasangaree holds degrees from Carleton University in Ottawa and Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.

He managed a law firm in Scarborough that focused on business, real estate and international human rights law, and has represented the organization Lawyers' Rights Watch Canada at the United Nations. He has also been involved with Tamil community organizations.

In March, Anandasangaree made the news for comments he made on Sri Lanka, calling it "a failed and bankrupt state."