What is old is new again, as former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is headed back to the post he held for eight years under the Obama administration. The Biden-Harris transition team formally announced the former ag secretary and Iowa governor’s nomination to the agriculture position in cabinet on Thursday. Former Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry… Read More
Tag: Gerry Ritz
Is the dust beginning to fly where you are at? Let us know! We’ve got a great line-up for you on today’s episode of RealAg Radio. On today’s show, you’ll hear: The top ag news stories of the day with host Shaun Haney; Lyndsey Smith of RealAgriculture, on a recent story she wrote on stacked… Read More
August marks the beginning of the crop year, and for many farmers in Western Canada, it marks a significant anniversary — the removal of the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly in 2012. The Conservatives had two minority governments leading up to eventually winning a majority in 2011. As Gerry Ritz, then federal minister of Agriculture and… Read More
With no ambassador on the ground in China, and no face-to-face meeting scheduled between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese President Xi Jinping, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel of the latest round of trade suspensions. “Wringing hands and begging Trump to intervene are not a good Plan… Read More
Gerry Ritz lives by a quiet lake in the northeastern corner of the riding he used to represent in the House of Commons as a Saskatchewan MP and many years as agriculture minister for Stephen Harper. After two decades of life in politics he says his honey-do list is pretty long, but he has very… Read More
Today on RealAg Radio, host Shaun Haney hones in on some very important issues to agriculture and rural communities. Whether it’s the economy, trade, the opioid crisis, or political issues, we have you covered today on the show. You’ll hear from: Former federal minister of agriculture Gerry Ritz on trade issues and a few other… Read More
Entering its 48th year, Agribition has officially kicked off in Regina, Saskatchewan. During the opening remarks it was announced that the federal and provincial governments will invest up to $500,000 to support the Canadian Western Agribition (CWA). The funding will be in increments of $100,000 per year and run until 2023. The costs will be… Read More
Over the weekend, the Canadian Agriculture Hall of Fame Association (CAHFA) inducted five accomplished agricultural leaders. The event was held on Sunday, November 4th, in conjunction with the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair at Toronto, Ont. The five inductees include: Ted Bilyea, Peter Dhillon, Wilf Keller, Larry Martin, and the Honourable Gerry Ritz. To read more about what… Read More
The Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame has announced its slate of inductees for 2018. “We had a tremendous response from the industry with a record of 11 nominations put forward, and have selected five outstanding agricultural ambassadors,” says Hall of Fame Association president Guy Charbonneau. “This year’s inductees exemplify the leadership and vision that continues to… Read More
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) has recognized former Member of Parliament and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz with the 2017 Beef Industry Innovation and Sustainability Award. In its newsletter, the CCA listed changes the beef industry saw during Ritz’s time as Minister of Agriculture, including: His announcing, in 2014, over $3.8 million to fund the Canadian… Read More
Former agriculture minister Gerry Ritz is leaving federal politics. Ritz, 66, plans to announce he will step down as MP for Battlefords-Lloydminster on Thursday morning. First elected to parliament in 1997, Ritz served as minister of agriculture from 2007 to 2015. Following the Liberal victory in the 2015 election he served as critic for the… Read More
Canada’s heading into the NAFTA renegotiation next week, but a deal that hasn’t been discussed a lot lately is the Trans-Pacific Partnership — and why is that? The U.S. pulled out of TPP and left eleven remaining countries. Canada has participated in all of the meetings post-U.S. pulling out. The Canadian govenrment has provided a… Read More
When U.S. President Donald Trump followed through on his promise to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacfic Partnership, many people speculated the deal was dead in the water. Similarly, Canada has also faced threats of NAFTA withdrawal by the U.S. within the same three month period. For many of the remaining countries, including Canada,… Read More
President Trump’s attacks on Canadian dairy are short-sighted and don’t reflect the reality of the Canada-U.S. dairy relationship, says former Canadian agriculture minister Gerry Ritz. “This is typical President Trump. It’s all shock and awe, throw down the gauntlet and then really not have a lot of details that his assumptions are based on,” he… Read More
Calling this week’s meeting between Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump a “pre-arranged first date in an organized marriage,” Conservative trade portfolio critic Gerry Ritz possibly came as close as we’ve heard to complementing the Prime Minister. “The first rule is ‘do no harm,’ and I think that’s exactly what happened. Nothing got done, but… Read More