Incumbent Conservative Member of Parliament Gerry Ritz has been re-elected the representative of Battlefords-Lloydminster.
The former Agriculture Minister was elected to a 7th straight term in office, this time as a member of the opposition. With a new Liberal government in power, Ritz says that this time his party’s task has changed.
“We’re going to have our work cut out for us, keeping the Liberals honest,” Ritz said. “They tend to wander off from what they said they were going to do from time to time, and it will be up to us to keep them there. Of course, my focus will be on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, Country of Origin Labeling, The Canada Transport Act Review, those types of things that I was immersed in as Minister of Agriculture.”
Ritz also says he will be following closely what the Liberals will do to promote trade and agriculture.
“[I’ll] continue to work with a lot of the industry groups, because they will lobby the opposition as much as they lobby [the] government,” Ritz said. “It’s going to be interesting to see who the Liberals actually pick for Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Trade, [because] there’s not a lot of depth there. So we’ll watch and we’ll educate them every day in Question Period.”
Ritz also says that since he is no longer a minister, he will have more time off, which may mean more trips back to his constituency. Ritz has held Battlefords-Lloydminster since the riding was created in 1997.