Lawrence MacAuley, a former seed potato and dairy farmer, is Canada’s new agriculture minister. A former solicitor general and minister of labor, MacAuley has represented a district on Prince Edward Island in the Gulf of St Lawrence and north of the Nova Scotia peninsula, says CBC. Agriculture is an important industry on the island, which grows a quarter of the country’s potatoes. The PEI Federation of Agriculture says MacAuley has a strong knowledge of the farm sector. MacAuley was among a half-dozen politicians in the running for the post since the Liberals won control of Parliament in the Oct 19 elections.
Liberals won few rural seats outside of the Atlantic provinces. Grain farming dominates the western provinces and dairy output is largest in Ontario and Quebec. Ralph Goodale, the sole Liberal elected from Saskatchewan and a former agriculture minister, told the Manitoba Co-operator that grain transportation and trade, particularly the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact, will top the agenda for the new government. A decision is due later this year from the WTO on whether Canada can impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. manufactured and agricultural exports because of a U.S. meat-labeling law.