Return to
 Table of Contents

Serving Agriculture:
Canada's Ministers of Agriculture

Ralph Ferguson

Birthplace

Federal Constituency

Education

Professional Background

Political Affiliation

"We were aiming for a partnership with farmers and the provinces . . . trying to grow the pie rather than haggling over the size of the piece."
-- Don Mazankowski, 1997

Political Career

Ferguson was elected to the House of Commons in 1980 and appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister of state (small business and tourism) in March. In the early 1980s, he also served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance and as deputy government whip.

Ferguson was a proponent of export market expansion and participated in several trade missions. He encouraged farm organizations and the federal Liberals to create CANAGREX, the Canadian Agricultural Export Corporation, as a Crown corporation in 1983. Ferguson was appointed minister of agriculture by John Turner, who became prime minister in June 1984, and served until the Liberals' electoral defeat three months later.

Ferguson lost his seat in the 1984 general election but was re-elected in 1988. His concern over growing corporate concentration in U.S. agriculture made him a strong opponent of free trade with the United States. He served as opposition agriculture critic and assistant co-critic for international trade. His continued involvement in policy development led to the adoption of a comprehensive agriculture policy by the Liberal party in 1970. He retired from politics in 1993 but is still an agricultural activist in southwestern Ontario, a practising conservationist and a proponent of environmentally friendly, renewable fuels.

Accomplishments as Minister

Because Ferguson served for a limited period, it is difficult to identify a specific legacy for him in the department. With increasing pressure from industry for plant breeders' rights legislation, Ferguson recognized the need to protect parent seed stocks and was instrumental in establishing the first in a series of controlled environment seed banks for this purpose at the Morden research facility. He is best known for his later work and studies comparing farm gate and consumer prices and lobbying against corporate concentration in the Canadian food system.