Shaila Anwar is a trusted public servant with extensive experience on Senate procedures and practices.
Ms. Anwar joined the Senate Committees Directorate in 2007 as a Procedural Clerk. Since that time, she has assumed progressively more senior roles within the Senate Administration, including Deputy Principal Clerk then Principal Clerk of the Senate Committees Directorate. Ms. Anwar currently serves as Clerk Assistant of the Senate Committees Directorate, overseeing all aspects of Senate committee operations on behalf of the Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments. In this capacity, she provides non-partisan procedural advice to guide and support the Speaker of the Senate, committee chairs, and senators on various aspects of parliamentary business and legislative matters. As a Table Officer, she supports sittings of the Senate and provides advice on a range of matters relating to Senate proceedings.
Well versed in providing guidance on strategic and corporate objectives on behalf of Senate Administration, Ms. Anwar directly supports the work of senators on key internal business and several corporate committees and subcommittees. She also manages a team of principal clerks and procedural clerks assigned to the Senate’s standing committees, subcommittees, as well as standing and special joint committees with the House of Commons.
A well-respected expert on the role of the Senate in the Canadian parliamentary system, Ms. Anwar is a fluently bilingual communicator who has spoken at national and international conferences and seminars on parliamentary procedure and practices.
Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Ms. Anwar was raised and educated in Ottawa. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (High Honours) in English and Political Science from Carleton University.