AV
Arif Virani
Justice Canada
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Biography
The Honourable Arif Virani was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Parkdale—High Park in 2015. Previously, he has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development; as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism); and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
Minister Virani is an Ismaili Muslim who came to Canada in 1972 as a Ugandan Asian refugee. Before entering politics, he practised law for 15 years, starting his career as a civil litigator at Fasken Martineau and subsequently working as a constitutional litigator at the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, advocating for human rights and access to justice.
Minister Virani previously worked as an analyst with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in Ottawa, as an investigator at the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse in Montréal, and as an Assistant Trial Attorney prosecuting genocide at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Minister Virani holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science (Honours) from McGill University, and completed his Bachelor of Laws at the University of Toronto, where he graduated as valedictorian. He speaks English, French, and some Hindi ‒ his Polish, Ukrainian, and Tibetan are works in progress. He is married and the active coach of his two sons.
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