Anne McLellan

A. Anne McLellan (born August 31, 1950) is the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada.

Born in Nova Scotia, Ms. McLellan earned her bachelor degrees in Arts and Law from Halifax's Dalhousie University and then earned a Master of Laws from King's College, London in the UK.

She became a professor of law, first at the University of New Brunswick and then, beginning in 1980, at the University of Alberta where she served at various times as associate dean and dean.

Her first foray into politics was as the Liberal candidate for the riding of Edmonton-Northwest in the1993 general election.

She quickly became a rising star in the Liberal Party, being one of two Liberals elected in Alberta, and was named to cabinet as Minister of Natural Resources.

She managed to get re-elected in the new riding of Edmonton-West in 1997 and 2000 despite Liberal unpopularity in Alberta. She moved around the cabinet table, serving as Minister of Justice from 1997 - 2002 and Minister of Health from 2002 - 2003. As Justice Minister, she was responsible from implementing new anti-terror and security laws following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

On being sworn-in as Prime Minister on December 12, 2003, Paul Martin showed renewed confidence in McLellan and sent a message to the west about his plans to reduce western alienation by naming her his Deputy Prime Minister. McLellan was also named minister for the newly created Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.