Rob Anders

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."

In the 37th Canadian Parliament he was the vice-chair of the Subcommittee on National Security of the Standing Committee on Justice, Human Rights, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

In the 39th Canadian Parliament, after the Conservatives came to power, he was elected chair of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs.

In the 40th Canadian Parliament he had three different committee leadership jobs: vice-chair of the Government Operations and Estimates Committee, vice-chair of Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates and co-chair of Library of Parliament Committee.

Anders has been a consistent critic of the human rights record of the People's Republic of China.

Robert J. Anders (born April 1, 1972) is a Canadian former politician.

The seat had been vacated when the former MP for the riding, Stephen Harper, resigned in 1996.

He represented the riding of Calgary West from 1997 until 2015 and was a founding member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

At the time of his first election in 1997 he served as the director of Canadians Against Forced Unionism.

Anders was first elected as the Reform Party MP for Calgary West in 1997, at age 25.

It was expected that Anders would run in a by-election, but the 1997 election was called earlier than expected.

Anders was elected as a member of the Reform Party (1997–2000) and converted to the Canadian Alliance in 2000.

Anders served in several different critic roles in opposition.

As a result, during the next two federal elections, Anders was the target of a mostly unsuccessful non-partisan "Vote Out Rob Anders" campaign in his riding, but his popular vote percentage increased in every federal election since he was first elected in the 1997 Canadian federal election.

First as critic of the Senate from June 16, 1998, to 1999 as well as associate critic for Human Resource Development from his first election to July 31, 2000.

In August 2000 he was appointed associate critic for Citizenship and Immigration.

Along with fellow newly elected MPs Jason Kenney, Monte Solberg, 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 - all aged under 30; and girth.

On June 18, 2001, he became associate critic for National Defence, until appointed critic for Civil Preparedness from Jan 22, 2004 until the 2004 election.

Over time Anders has served in several leadership roles on parliamentary committees.

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.

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.

In the next parliament Anders became the co-chair of the Scrutiny of Regulations Committee.

In March 2003 Anders introduced Bill C-414 as a private members' bill.

It was entitled "An Act to amend the Special Economic Measures Act (no foreign aid to countries that do not respect religious freedom)."

The purpose of the bill was to stop Canadian government from spending the foreign aid budget in countries that did not allow for religious freedom.

In December 2005, Anders used public funds to send pamphlets to residents in Richmond, British Columbia, a constituency far removed from his own.

The leaflets caused bewilderment for including a survey question about "homosexual sex marriage" in a flyer otherwise addressing crime and crystal meth abuse.

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.

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.

In 2010, in a card supporting Canadian troops, Anders wrote: "When in doubt, pull the trigger".

On April 12, 2014, Anders was defeated by former provincial minister Ron Liepert for the Conservative nomination in Calgary Signal Hill, which included the bulk of his former riding, for the next federal election.

On September 20, 2014, Anders was defeated for a second time in an attempt to gain the nomination in Bow River by Brooks mayor Martin Shields.

Anders was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

He graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.

Anders introduced Bill C-570 on January 29, 2014, which would amend the criminal code to provide for mandatory minimum sentences for rape.