There will be plenty of new faces around the table as the House of Commons agriculture committee begins meeting and debating agriculture-related policies under the Carney Liberal government.
New committee membership lists were made public on Friday.
The following MPs have been appointed by their respective party leadership to serve on the Standing Committee for Agriculture and Agri-Food (*denotes returning member):
- *John Barlow (Conservative, Alberta)
- Richard Bragdon (Conservative, New Brunswick)
- Sophie Chatel (Liberal, Quebec)
- Paul Connors (Liberal, Newfoundland and Labrador)
- Michael Coteau (Liberal, Ontario)
- Marianne Dandurand (Liberal, Quebec)
- *Dave Epp (Conservative, Ontario)
- *Jacques Gourde (Conservative, Quebec)
- Emma Harrison (Liberal, Ontario)
- *Yves Perron (Bloc Québécois)
Ag committee breakdown:
- Six out of the 10 MPs are new to the ag committee. Ag file veterans John Barlow, Dave Epp, and Yves Perron are the only hold-overs from the committee prior to the election. Jacques Gourde returns to the ag committee after stints in 2006-07 and 2016-17.
- Three ag committee members are brand-new MPs. Marianne Dandurand, Emma Harrison, and Paul Connors are all rookie Liberal MPs. Dandurand worked for former ag minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and won Bibeau's former riding south of Montreal. Harrison's family has a small-farm in the Peterborough area, where she defeated the incumbent Conservative MP.
- The committee includes five Liberals, four Conservatives, and one Bloc member, reflecting each party's share of seats across the country.
- Nine of the 10 committee members are from eastern Canada. Barlow, who is continuing as the Conservatives' shadow minister of agriculture, is the only representative from western Canada. His Conservative colleague Dave Epp of Leamington, Ontario has the second furthest west riding.
- By province:
- Quebec - 4
- Ontario - 3
- Alberta, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador - 1 each
- The committee includes Sophie Chatel, parliamentary secretary to the minister of agriculture.
- The Conservatives have named Steven Bonk of Saskatchewan as their associate member for the ag committee, while the Liberals have named Kent MacDonald of PEI. The associate is the first person to fill in if a committee member can't make a meeting.
- Not mentioned: Former committee chair Kody Blois will not be involved in the ag committee. He's been appointed parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and is co-chairing Carney's new "Economic Growth Caucus."
First order of business
The agriculture committee is scheduled to meet for the first time on Wednesday afternoon to choose a new chair. Since the chair only votes to break a tie, the election of a Liberal MP as chair would put the governing party in a minority position at committee.
Update: Michael Coteau was chosen to serve as the ag committee chair on June 18. John Barlow was appointed 1st vice-chair and Yves Perron was named 2nd vice-chair. The committee is not planning to meet again before fall.
