Rob Anders

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert J. Anders

Incumbent
Riding	Calgary West
In office since	1997 election
Preceded by	Stephen Harper
Born	April 01, 1972 (age 35) Winnipeg, Manitoba
Residence	Calgary
Political party	Conservative
Profession(s)	Administrator, labour expert
Spouse	Single

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. He is currently Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Anders graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. Before being elected he had worked in the United States for the Republican Party for the 1994 senate campaign of Jim Inhofe in Oklahoma as a professional heckler. This 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.

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 Defence and former Co-Chair of the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations.

Anders is perhaps best known for being the sole parliamentarian to vote against making Nelson Mandela an honorary citizen of Canada in 2001. This prevented the act from passing unanimously. He defended his actions by stating that Mandela was a communist and a terrorist, causing widespread criticism.[2] As a result, during the past two federal elections, Anders has been the target of a mostly unsuccessful non-partisan "Vote Out Rob Anders" campaign in his riding, as his popular vote increased in both elections.[3]

Current 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."[4]

Anders has devoted his time to a variety of organizations. Some of these include right-wing lobby groups and think tanks such as the Fraser Institute, 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.

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.

[edit] External links

• Official Site
• Vote Out Rob Anders a site dedicated to those opposed to Anders re-election
• How'd They Vote?: Rob Anders' voting history and quotes

Parliament of Canada
Preceded by Stephen Harper	Member of Parliament for Calgary West 1997-	Succeeded by Incumbent

	Alberta Caucus serving in the 39th Canadian Parliament.
Senators	Tommy Banks (Lib), Joyce Fairbairn (Lib), Daniel Hays (Lib), Elaine McCoy (PC), Grant Mitchell (Lib), Claudette Tardif (Lib)
Members of Parliament	Diane Ablonczy (Con), Rona Ambrose (Con), Rob Anders (Con), Leon Benoit (Con), Blaine Calkins (Con), Rick Casson (Con), Ken Epp (Con), Peter Goldring (Con), Art Hanger (Con), Stephen Harper (Con), Laurie Hawn (Con), Rahim Jaffer (Con), Brian Jean (Con), Jason Kenney (Con), Mike Lake (Con), Ted Menzies (Con), Rob Merrifield (Con), Bob Mills (Con), Deepak Obhrai (Con), Jim Prentice (Con), James Rajotte (Con), Lee Richardson (Con), Monte Solberg (Con), Kevin Sorenson (Con), Brian Storseth (Con), Myron Thompson (Con), Chris Warkentin (Con), John Williams (Con)