Reading Time: < 1 minute Saskatchewan’s premier expects to name a new minister of agriculture within days, as the incumbent minister steps aside to focus on cancer treatments. Lyle Stewart announced Thursday he will remain as ag minister until Premier Scott Moe names a new minister, a decision to be announced sometime this week. “I was recently diagnosed with colorectal […] Read more
Saskatchewan ag minister to exit cabinet
G20 ag ministers slam protectionism, pledge WTO reforms
Reading Time: 2 minutes Buenos Aires | Reuters — Agriculture ministers from the G20 countries criticized protectionism in a joint statement on Saturday, and vowed to reform World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, but did not detail what steps they would take to improve the food trade system. In the statement, they said they were “concerned about the increasing use […] Read more
Sector growth to occupy Ontario ag minister in 2018
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ontario’s Liberals will have their agriculture standard-bearer back for the 2018 election. Jeff Leal, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, is staying in politics, running for his fifth term as a member of the provincial legislature in the Peterborough riding. Leal, who as a resident of Peterborough is about as rural as any […] Read more
Ex-agriculture minister Gerry Ritz quits Commons
Reading Time: 2 minutes Gerry Ritz, the federal minister for agriculture and agri-food for nine years in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government, is done with federal politics. The MP for the western Saskatchewan riding of Battlefords-Lloydminster since 1997, Ritz announced via Twitter Thursday morning that he “will not be returning to my seat in the House of Commons this fall.” […] Read more
B.C. NDP’s ag critic named ag minister
Reading Time: 2 minutes The agriculture critic for British Columbia’s opposition New Democrats will be the minister of agriculture as the party takes the governing reins. Lana Popham, the MLA for the Vancouver Island riding of Saanich South, was named Tuesday as ag minister in Premier John Horgan’s cabinet. Horgan took over as premier after Christy Clark’s Liberals, who […] Read more
Former Alberta agriculture minister LeRoy Fjordbotten, 78
Reading Time: < 1 minute Memorial services will be held Sunday in Claresholm, Alta. for LeRoy Fjordbotten, the farmer and consultant who served as Alberta’s agriculture minister from 1982 to 1986. Fjordbotten, who died June 8, farmed northeast of Granum, about 60 km northwest of Lethbridge, and was a member of Flying Farmers of Alberta before running for the Progressive […] Read more
NAFTA agriculture ministers see ‘few’ differences over trade
Reading Time: < 1 minute Garden City, Ga. | Reuters — The U.S., Canada and Mexico have “relatively few” differences on agricultural trade, agriculture ministers from the three countries said in a joint statement after meeting Tuesday to discuss the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. However, some “irritants” are present for each country in the runup to […] Read more
No charges against Quebec’s ex-ag minister
Reading Time: < 1 minute Quebec’s director of prosecutions has decided not to pursue criminal charges against the province’s fired agriculture minister over allegations of “acts of a sexual character.” The province’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions (DPCP) announced in a release Monday that the office was “not reasonably convinced” culpability could be proven against the provincial member for […] Read more
Nova Scotia ag minister, critic keep seats in election
Reading Time: < 1 minute Nova Scotia’s incumbent agriculture minister and lead ag critic have both hung onto their seats in an election which saw the governing Liberals return to power with a slightly slimmer majority. Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election show Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberals elected in 27 ridings — down from 34 at the government’s dissolution — followed […] Read more
Quebec ag minister pulled from caucus
Reading Time: 1 minute Quebec’s agriculture minister has been removed from the provincial government’s cabinet and caucus, the premier’s office said Thursday. In a short press release, Premier Philippe Couillard said he was informed Thursday evening that Agriculture Minister Pierre Paradis is the subject of a police investigation. Given the circumstances, Paradis has been relieved of ministerial duties and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
