Statement from Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s spokesperson on Oct. 19 about the MP’s role in the immigration case of a woman the Canada Border Services Agency has alleged was a member of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers.
Our records indicate the spouse of the individual in question in the Federal Court matter approached the Minister’s constituency office in 2016 seeking assistance with family reunification. It is not unusual for Tamil-Canadians to reach out, given the Minister has constituency staff who are proficient in Tamil. But this was not a resident of Scarborough-Rouge Park, they resided in a neighbouring riding, Markham-Thornhill. The Minister’s constituency office repeatedly advised the individual to contact their local MP for assistance. The inquiries to IRCC you reference were general in nature, seeking status updates on applications, a routine task undertaken by any MP’s office. The Minister’s riding office did not provide a letter of support for this individual. So the premise of the bulk of your questions is false. The Minister and his constituency team did not provide material support for someone who was determined to be inadmissible. In fact, the Minister has been clear, repeatedly, that he condemns terrorism in all its forms. As a proud Tamil Canadian, Minister Anandasangaree has spent years advocating for vulnerable people and defending human rights at home and abroad. Any suggestion or innuendo that this work detracts from his commitment to Canada is scurrilous and wrong.
Statement from the office of Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree on July 14 in response to questions about two letters the MP wrote to the Canada Border Services Agency in 2016 and 2023 in support of Senthuran Selvakumaran, a Sri Lankan citizen who had applied to immigrate to Canada but was denied on the grounds he had been a member of the Tamil Tigers.
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It would be inappropriate to comment on any specific matters that remain before the courts. That said, there are important matters to clarify. As Minister, I have never sent a letter seeking Ministerial relief in an immigration matter. When I was appointed Minister in July 2023, I instructed my constituency staff to no longer provide such letters. The letters in question here date from before I entered Cabinet. Some important context on that. My office in Scarborough-Guildwood-Rouge Park handles hundreds of immigration matters annually, over 9,000 since I was elected in 2015. That is the nature of representing a diverse riding in the country’s largest city. That a constituent, a Canadian citizen, with a Canadian child, would want to reunite her family in Canada is not unusual. And we have created processes by which people can challenge administrative decisions. MPs from all parties provide letters of support for constituents as a routine matter. As a Tamil Canadian, active for decades in my community, I have faced innuendo and whisper campaigns that question my allegiances to Canada. Those are scurrilous and wrong. I am a proud Canadian and proud of my Tamil heritage. I denounce terrorism in all its forms. I decided one way to deal with these allegations was to recuse myself from any decisions related to the listing process under the Anti-Terrorism Act for the Tamil Tigers (LTTE), or the World Tamil Organization. In the discharge of my duties as Minister, I cannot, and will not, make decisions on any matter wherein I advocated for a constituent. This includes Ministerial relief and stays of removals. And I have already placed a screen to recuse myself from matters that involve the two listed entities mentioned above. The questions sent to me by Global News infer something that no other Minister has to face: their premise is that I somehow support a terrorist organization and would make decisions that would favour a terrorist organization. That is false.
Statement from Anandasangaree’s office on July 28 in response to questions about why he claimed he was helping a constituent in his initial response about the letters.
Providing guidance, advocacy, or support letters in support of Canadians is a standard responsibility of Members of Parliament across all parties. It is part of an MP’s duty to assist, in accordance with federal rules, Canadian citizens seeking to reunite with their families. It is not uncommon for MPs to assist Canadian citizens that are out of their riding, especially if the local MP is unable to assist due to their role in Cabinet, as was the case in this situation. It is also important to note that this particular applicant’s family was introduced by a known constituent of Scarborough-Rouge Park. This should have been made clearer in the Minister’s statement of July 14, 2025. As previously stated, since 2015, and before joining Cabinet, Minister Anandasangaree’s constituency office handled thousands of files ranging from immigration and tax matters to Old Age Security and issues of inadmissibility such as this one. The Minister of Public Safety believes in ensuring all Canadians have access to due process and supports the longstanding role of MPs in advocating for justice, compassion and procedural fairness. There is no statutory, common law, or ethics commissioner’s restriction on a Member of Parliament providing a support letter for Ministerial Relief. Minister Anandasangaree takes his responsibilities, as well as Canadians’ expectations regarding integrity and transparency, extremely seriously and will continue to carry out his duties as such while ensuring the safety of Canadians. Additional background information: The principle of Ministerial Relief requires the Minister of Public Safety to make an independent decision based on a range of factors. This includes, the risk posed by the applicant to Canadians, the scope and nature of involvement in a listed entity, and the distance of time from alleged involvement to the present day. But ultimately, the safety and security of Canadians is paramount. In submitting an application for Ministerial relief, the applicant provides a range of supporting material for consideration, including letters of support from elected officials. The Canada Border Services Agency provides its assessment on the application, and advises the Minister of Public Safety. An applicant’s inadmissibility can be overturned by Ministerial Relief, as afforded under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. This process is part of the rule of law and procedural fairness afforded to each applicant.
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