| Robert J. Anders | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Calgary West |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | Stephen Harper |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 1, 1972 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence | Calgary |
| Profession | Member of Parliament |
| Religion | Catholic |
Robert J. "Rob" Anders (born April 1, 1972, in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian politician He is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada and has represented the riding of Calgary West since 1997.
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Anders graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Before being elected he worked for the Republican Party on the 1994 senate campaign of Jim Inhofe in Oklahoma as a professional heckler, which earned him the label of "a foreign political saboteur" from CNN.[1] Before 1997 he had also served as the director of Canadians Against Forced Unionism, an organization related to the National Citizens Coalition.
Anders was first elected as the Reform Party MP for Calgary West in 1997, at age 25. The seat had been vacated when the former MP for the riding, Stephen Harper, resigned unexpectedly in 1996. Despite his relative youthfulness, Anders was already a veteran political organizer, and was able to win a hotly-contested nomination in one of the safest Reform ridings in Canada. Along with fellow newly-elected MP's Jason Kenney and Rahim Jaffer and advisor Ezra Levant, Anders was part of an up and coming group of young Reformers which pundits dubbed the "Snack Pack" due to their relative youth.
Anders was a supporter of Stephen Harper's successful 2002 bid for the leadership of the Canadian Alliance, providing significant assistance with the campaign's phone-banking.
Anders is the current Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. He is also a former member of the Reform Party (1997–2000) and the Canadian Alliance (2000–2003). He is a former Official Opposition Critic for National Defense and former Co-Chair of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated his support of Anders, stating that "Rob is a true reformer and a true conservative. He has been a faithful supporter of mine and I am grateful for his work."[2]
In 2011 Rob Anders began to lobby for the government to stop funding the CBC.[3]
Anders was the sole parliamentarian to vote against making Nelson Mandela an honorary citizen of Canada in 2001, which prevented the act from passing unanimously. He defended his actions by stating that Mandela was a communist and a terrorist, causing widespread criticism.[4] As a result, during the past two federal elections, Anders has been the target of a mostly unsuccessful non-partisan "Vote Out Rob Anders"[5] campaign in his riding, but his popular vote percentage has increased every federal election since he was first elected in the 1997 Canadian federal election. Until 2006, his percentage of popular vote progressively increased from 51.79% in 1997 to 58.7% in 2006. His raw numbers in the popular vote dropped in 2004 by less than 2000 votes over his 2000 election but rebounded in 2006 to his highest vote total to date. Voter turnout in his riding for the 2006 election was the highest in Alberta [1] at 69.9%. In 2008, Anders' share of the popular vote declined slightly to 57.4%.
Anders has been a consistent critic of the human rights record of the People's Republic of China. He has described the PRC as "the worst human-rights abuser in the world," and compared the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He argued that "China is the wrong choice to host the Games... I absolutely 100% think it compares to the Berlin Olympics in 1936." Anders highlights that the fact that Falun Gong practitioners are not allowed to participate in the Olympics is comparable with Adolf Hitler's issue with Jewish participation in the 1936 Berlin Olympics." Anders has also said that no Canadian politician should attend the games, nor should any Canadian athletes be used as "propaganda tools." His comments were criticized by local Chinese trade association as well as fellow Calgary Tory MP Deepak Obhrai who disclaimed Anders "was speaking as an individual and his comments are not reflective of government policy." [6]
In 2010, in a card supporting Canadian troops, Anders wrote: "When in doubt, pull the trigger".[7]
Anders' decision to become involved in the newly formed Wildrose Alliance Party of Alberta has generated controversy, as the Wildrose Alliance Party is hoping to defeat the current ruling Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta. Ron Liepert, Alberta's Minister of Energy, accused Anders of campaigning against him.[8]
In February 2010, nineteen members of Anders' Calgary West riding association resigned en masse, citing interference from the Conservative Party. The 32 member board had been planning to ask Conservative Party members at the riding's upcoming annual general meeting whether they wanted to hold a nomination contest. The party's national council intervened, saying it had already declared Anders as the candidate for the next federal election, and threatened to take control of the annual general meeting of the constituency association. The resignations brought the total number of board members who had resigned over the course of one year to twenty-four.[9]
In 2003, he voted for a Bloc Québécois proposition which stated that the Québécois form a nation and could withdraw from any federal initiative. He was the only non-Québécois to vote for this proposition.
Anders has devoted his time to a variety of right-wing organizations. Some of these include lobby groups and think tanks such as Focus on the Family, the Canada Family Action Coalition, and to several causes opposing the Government of China's policies regarding Tibet and Falun Gong.