The Minister
The Honourable Gerry Ritz
Battlefords-Lloydminster (Saskatchewan)
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
The Honourable Gerry Ritz was first elected to Parliament in 1997. He was re-elected in 2000, 2004 and 2006. On January 4, 2007, Mr. Ritz was appointed Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism) and on August 14, 2007, he was sworn in as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board.
Minister Ritz has served as the Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food. He has also served as the Critic for Agriculture and Agri-Food and for Public Works and Government Services. He held the position of Deputy Whip and Question Period Coordinator for the Official Opposition. He was Chair of the Subcommittee on the Estimates Process and a member of the standing committees on Finance and on Transport, the Subcommittee on Private Members' Business and the Liaison Committee.
During the course of his career, Minister Ritz has run his own farming operation, owned and operated a general contracting business and co-owned a weekly newspaper. Before entering politics, he worked as constituency coordinator for former Saskatchewan MP Elwin Hermanson. He was actively involved in the Rosetown Economic Development Committee, the Knights of Columbus, and coaching children's hockey.
Mr. Ritz is married to Judy and has two children.