Heath MacDonald is the fourth federal agriculture minister in less than two years.

MacDonald was first elected as an MP in 2021 and prior to that was a PEI MLA, who served as that province’s finance minister.

Grain Growers of Canada executive director Kyle Larkin says McDonald has experience on the agriculture committee.  Larkin hopes the 59-year-old agriculture minister plans on visiting every province before the fall sitting of Parliament to connect with farmers and see what is happening in agriculture at the ground level.  He cites Saskatchewan and Alberta as priorities, especially the typical family farm.  Larkin notes that McDonald opposed changes to the capital gains tax that were proposed by the former Trudeau government.

While the welcome mat is out for MacDonald, some were wondering why Kody Blois was not retained in the ag portfolio which he held under Carney for several weeks prior to the federal election. It might have been a numbers game with Carney needing a cabinet representative from Prince Edward Island. Blois had received positive reviews from farm organizations during his brief stint as agriculture minister.

You can hear CJWW Agriculture Director Neil Billinger’s interview with Kyle Larkin of the Grain Growers of Canada below: