The New Democratic Party’s lead MP on agricultural files for the past six and half years is moving on.
With the resumption of Parliament this week, Alistair MacGregor is leaving the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food and leaving his role as the NDP’s agriculture critic, which he has held since early 2018.
“I will sincerely miss the six and a half years I spent as the Agriculture Critic. #CdnAg will always be near and dear to my heart,” wrote MacGregor, in a post on X.
Serving as the MP for the Vancouver Island riding of Cowichan-Malahat-Langford, MacGregor is now a member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. He’s also the NDP caucus chair.
MacGregor has been replaced as the lone NDP representative on the ag committee by Richard Cannings, who has served as MP for South Okanagan-West Kootenay since 2015 — the riding previously held by former NDP ag critic Alex Atamanenko. Prior to politics, Cannings was a biologist specializing in birds who wrote numerous books and taught at the University of British Columbia.
Cannings’ replacement of MacGregor is the only change to the House of Commons’ ag committee roster with the start of the fall session this week. Liberal MP Kody Blois remains the ag committee chair, with Conservative member John Barlow and Bloc Quebecois MP Yves Perron serving as vice-chairs.
