Anita Anand Drops Out Of Race To Become Next Canada PM, Says Will Do 'Same' As Trudeau

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Anita Anand, Canada's current transport Minister said on Sunday she will not run for Prime Minister this time. Her name emerged as the top contender for the post after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered to resign once the ruling Liberal Party Liberal Party elects a new leader.

In a letter, Anita Anand said, "Today I am announcing that I will not be entering the race to become the next Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and will not be seeking re-election as the Member of Parliament for Oakville. I will continue to honourably execute my roles as a public office holder until the next election."

Justin Trudeau said earlier this month that he would resign as the leader of the Liberal Party and as Prime Minister as soon as a new candidate is found for the post. Trudeau said that he had spoken to the Liberal Party President to start looking for a new Prime Ministerial candidate.

She said Prime Minister Trudeau decided to move to his next chapter. "I have determined the time is right for me to do the same, and to return to my prior professional life of teaching, research and public policy analyses," Anand wrote in the letter, which she posted on X on Sunday.

Anita Anand said, "Serving one's country and community can take many forms. Without reservation, I will always be here for our Liberal team, for Oakville, and most of all for Canada."

"I sincerely thank Prime Minister Trudeau for welcoming me on the Liberal team as a Member of Parliament and for entrusting me with key cabinet portfolios. I am truly grateful to the people of Oakville for selecting me to represent them in Canada's House of Commons and for being such a wonderful, welcoming community where my husband and I raised our four children over the past twenty years," Anita Anand said.

Anita Anand is the current Minister of Transport and Internal Trade in Canada. Born and raised in rural Nova Scotia, Minister Anand moved to Ontario in 1985. She and her husband, John, raised their four children in Oakville, according to the information on the Canadian government's website.

"During my first campaign, many people told me that a woman of Indian descent would not get elected in Oakville, Ontario. Yet Oakville rallied behind me not once but twice since 2019, an honour that I will hold in my heart forever," Anand said in the letter.

Anand held many positions during her career so far. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Oakville in 2019. She served as Minister of Public Services and Procurement from 2019 to 2021 and has also served as President of the Treasury Board and Minister of National Defence.

"Since 2019, I have been deeply honoured and humbled to serve as Oakville's Member of Parliament and as member of Cabinet. In these roles, I have given all I have to keep Canada safe, strong, and free. I entered public life because I wanted to make a meaningful contribution to my community and country, a goal instilled in me by my parents, who immigrated to Canada before I was born," her letter read.

"Back in 2019, I could never have imagined that such work would mean navigating supply chains to overcome a global pandemic, addressing sexual assault in the Canadian Armed Forces, ensuring military aid reached Ukraine, overseeing the Treasury Board Secretariat or reinforcing Canada's transportation systems. While this chapter of my life has been challenging, it has been tremendously fulfilling to deliver results for Canadians by working collaboratively," she said.

Prior to seeking public office, she was a lawyer and law professor for over twenty years, most recently at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto where, as a full professor and chairholder, her intellectual focus was on capital markets regulation and governance.

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