Recently appointed as Canada’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice by Prime Minister Mark Carney on March 14, 2025 (a position he is likely to keep after the upcoming federal election), Gary Anandasangaree now faces a moment that directly parallels his earlier career as an international human rights lawyer advocating for Tamil victims of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
On November 5th, 2024, Palestinian-Canadian plaintiffs Hany el Batnigi and Tamer Jarada, represented by the Legal Centre for Palestine alongside a coalition of Canadian legal advocates, commenced proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the Attorney General of Canada seeking declaratory relief. The lawsuit alleges that Canada’s failure to act to prevent genocide in Gaza is a violation of its legal obligations under the United Nations’ Genocide Convention (1948) and of the plaintiffs’ rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The lawsuit presents not just a legal challenge, but a profound moral test of Gary’s consistency and commitment to justice.
Gary’s journey from refugee to cabinet minister is remarkable. Fleeing Sri Lanka after the 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms, he built a legal career focused on international human rights law. His Parliamentary biography proudly declares him “an internationally recognized human rights lawyer and community activist who has advocated tirelessly for education and justice.” For years, he lived up to this description, advocating for accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Sri Lanka against the Tamil people who were victims of decades-long state violence. His advocacy culminated in two significant achievements: Canada’s Parliament unanimously adopting a motion recognizing May 18 as “Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day” in 2022—making Canada the first nation to do so—and the Canadian government imposing sanctions on four top Sri Lankan officials, including former presidents Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in January 2023 for “gross and systematic violations of human rights” during the civil war.
Even as a backbench Member of Parliament, Gary played a notable and instrumental role in these sanctions, telling Al Jazeera that “there is a culture of impunity that has prevailed in Sri Lanka” and expressing confidence that “these sanctions will have a ripple effect with other countries undertaking similar measures.” This demonstrates that Gary clearly understands the political tools available to hold human rights violators accountable, making his silence in condemning and pursuing justice for Israel’s atrocities on Gaza all the more striking.
Despite these remarkable achievements related to Sri Lanka, Gary’s tenure as a Member of Parliament has been conspicuously unremarkable on other human rights issues. While vocal about the rights of Sri Lankan Tamils, he remained notably silent on Canada’s arms exports to Saudi Arabia during its devastating war in Yemen and failed to advocate for legislation to hold exploitative Canadian mining companies accountable for human rights abuses in the Global South.
This selective approach to human rights advocacy became even more apparent in his unwillingness to condemn Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023, despite the striking parallels to Sri Lanka’s actions against Tamils during the civil war. There is a particularly stark irony in Gary’s silence on Gaza given his previous role as Minister of Indigenous Affairs. As someone tasked with addressing the historical injustices perpetrated against settler Canada’s own Indigenous peoples, his unwillingness to speak out about the plight of the Indigenous Palestinian population facing displacement, collective punishment, and military assault represents a profound inconsistency. How can a Minister of Indigenous Affairs be unwilling to call out atrocities against the Indigenous people of Palestine while being entrusted with reconciliation efforts for settler Canada’s own historical treatment of Indigenous peoples?
Gary’s silence has not gone unnoticed—even by members of his own Tamil community. At a Tamil Heritage Month event in Scarborough on January 21, 2024, Canadian Tamils from Gary’s riding in Scarborough-Rouge Park, interrupted his speech, and asserted, in solidarity with Palestine, that:
“As Tamil people, we understand a genocide. We know the pain of losing our loved ones, of losing generations of our families, of experiencing war crimes, and the same thing that happened in the 2009 massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils is repeating itself right now. If Canadian politicians are silent, then what is the point of any of this remembrance?”
Faced with this direct challenge from members of his own constituency—the very community whose rights he had long championed—Gary refused to address the demonstrators’ comments about his silence on Gaza. Furthermore, when his Tamil constituents sent petitions to his office and requested meetings calling for him to advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza, sanctions against Israeli leaders, and an end to Canada’s military exports to Israel, Gary refused to even answer their requests.
The parallels between the Sri Lankan government’s 2009 actions against Tamils and Israel’s current military campaign in Gaza are unmistakable. Both conflicts saw civilians directed to “safe zones” only to be bombarded with heavy artillery; both involved sieges cutting off essential supplies; both resulted in mass civilian casualties and displacement; and both sparked international warnings about potential genocide.
As Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Gary now holds the very position of being sued for failing to prevent genocide in Gaza. The evidence presented in the lawsuit is damning: Canada has maintained military exports to Israel, permitted recruitment of Canadians for Israel’s military, continued military cooperation under the Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership, and allowed Canadian charities to fund programs benefiting Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
The lawsuit also highlights the stark disparity in Canada’s treatment of Israeli-Canadians versus Palestinian-Canadians. By October 18, 2023, Canada had evacuated approximately 1,300 Israeli-Canadians and permanent residents on Canadian military planes. No similar evacuation assistance was provided to Palestinian-Canadians like Hany el Batnigi, who was forced to make multiple dangerous attempts to cross into Egypt, during one of which he was injured in a bomb blast.
Dimitri Lascaris, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, revealed in a comment to this writer that:
“[s]hortly before Trudeau announced his resignation, the Attorney General advised us that he would bring a motion to strike the entire claim. That motion has now been brought and will be argued in November. Among other things, the Attorney General has invoked the ‘political question’ doctrine, which was used to defeat a similar lawsuit in the United States.”
Notably, Lascaris added:
“In my view, the bringing of this motion signals that the Liberal government will use all the tools at its disposal to avoid accountability for its complicity in Israel’s genocide. Since Mark Carney became Prime Minister, we have seen no indication that the Attorney General intends to alter its approach to the litigation.”
Lascaris expressed further skepticism about any potential shift under the Carney government, stating, “given that [Carney] has appointed fanatical Zionist Marco Mendicino to be his chief of staff, I expect that Carney will be just as supportive of Israel as Trudeau – and perhaps even worse.”
Notwithstanding these concerning signals, Carney’s government faces mounting public pressure and international scrutiny that could yet catalyze meaningful change. This transition presents a crucial moment for politicians like Gary Anandasangaree to reconcile their approach—having so effectively wielded sanctions, international pressure, and parliamentary motions for accountability in Sri Lanka, but not against Israel. The weight of this moral inconsistency, combined with growing public awareness, may finally compel action where there has previously been silence.
“The first principle, in my view, is that there must be excluded any consideration based upon narrow, partisan views, or based upon the political consequences to me or others.” This declaration by then-Attorney General of Canada Ron Basford in 1978 places a profound responsibility on Gary as he addresses the lawsuit’s serious claims about Canada’s compliance with international law. His constitutional obligations should transcend political allegiances or government policy preferences. His former work as a human rights lawyer advocating for Tamil victims of atrocities makes him intimately familiar with the legal principles at stake.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” offers a powerful lens through which to examine Gary’s actions. King’s decision to oppose the Vietnam War despite political consequences exemplified his understanding that justice cannot be compartmentalized—that the fight for human dignity must encompass all oppressed peoples. Gary understood this principle well when advocating for Tamil rights, asserting passionately: “We need to follow a path of non-violence and express solidarity with others who share similar struggles.” Yet his current selective approach to human rights contradicts this very principle.
Today, as Attorney General, Gary has the opportunity—indeed, the obligation—to maintain Canada’s integrity by addressing Canada’s legal obligations under the Genocide Convention and Charter rights violations alleged in the lawsuit. The Palestinian-Canadians seeking accountability deserve no less than what Gary once demanded for Tamil victims—recognition, justice, and protection under international law.
As Canada’s Attorney General facing a lawsuit that directly implicates his responsibility to prevent genocide, Gary stands at a pivotal moral crossroads. His response will reveal whether his commitment to human rights and international justice extends beyond his personal and ethnic connections to embrace the universal principles he once advocated as a human rights lawyer. The question now is not whether Gary knows how to act, but whether he has the moral courage to do so.
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