Gerry Ritz

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| name = Gerry Ritz

| honorific-suffix = PC

| image = Gerry Ritz 2013-04-09.jpg

| office = Official Opposition Critic for International Trade

| leader = Rona Ambrose
Andrew Scheer

| term_start = November 20, 2015

| term_end = August 29, 2017

| predecessor = Don Davies

| successor = Dean Allison

| riding1 = Battlefords—Lloydminster

| parliament1 = Canadian

| term_start1 = June 2, 1997

| term_end1 = October 2, 2017

| predecessor1 = Len TaylorThe Battlefords—Meadow Lake

| successor1 = Rosemarie Falk

| office2 = Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

| primeminister2 = Stephen Harper

| term_start2 = August 14, 2007

| term_end2 = November 4, 2015

| predecessor2 = Chuck Strahl

| successor2 = Lawrence MacAulay

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|08|19}}

| birth_place = Delisle, Saskatchewan, Canada

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Conservative

| otherparty = Saskatchewan United Party
Reform (1997–2000)
Canadian Alliance (2000–2003)

| portfolio =

| profession = Construction contractor, politician

| spouse = Judy Fleury{{cite web

| title = About Gerry Ritz - Member of Parliament for the Battlefords and Lloydminster

| publisher = Gerry Ritz

| year = 2008

| url = http://gerryritz.ca/content/about

| access-date = 2015-05-31

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150609073355/http://www.gerryritz.ca/content/about

| archive-date = 2015-06-09

| url-status = dead

}}

| residence = North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada

| footnotes =

| office3 = Chair of the Standing Committee on
Agriculture

| minister3 = Chuck Strahl

| term_start3 = May 4, 2006

| term_end3 = February 1, 2007

| predecessor3 = Paul Steckle

| successor3 = James Bezan

}}

Gerry Ritz {{postnom|PC}} (born August 19, 1951) is a former Canadian politician. He served as member of the House of Commons of Canada for Battlefords—Lloydminster from 1997 until his resignation in 2017. He served as Canada's agriculture minister from 2007 through 2015 under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Life and pre-political career

Ritz was born in Delisle, Saskatchewan, and prior to his political career, he worked as a farmer at the family farm for over 20 years and owned a contracting business company.

Federal politics

Ritz was elected as the Reform Party candidate in the 1997 general election and then re-elected with the Canadian Alliance in the 2000 election and the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2004 election. Ritz served as vice-chair of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee from 2002 to 2007. He was appointed minister of state for small business and tourism in the Harper government on January 4, 2007.

=Minister of Agriculture=

File:Canadian Minister of Agriculture Gerry Ritz, Mexico Secretary of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food Martinez y Martinez, and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.jpg]]

On August 14, 2007, Ritz was promoted to the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food replacing Chuck Strahl.{{cite web|url =http://www.ctvnews.ca/mackay-takes-over-defence-in-cabinet-shuffle-1.252495|title=MacKay takes over defence in cabinet shuffle|work=CTV News|date=August 14, 2007|access-date=2015-05-31}}

Ritz made national news when, in response to the 2008 Canadian listeriosis outbreak he was quoted as saying, "This is like a death by a thousand cuts. Or should I say cold cuts." Then when told of a death in Prince Edward Island, Ritz said, "Please tell me it's (Liberal MP) Wayne Easter." Ritz later apologized for his comments,{{cite news|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/ritz-sorry-for-tasteless-listeria-comments-1.325662|title=Ritz sorry for 'tasteless' Listeria jokes|work=CTV News|date=September 17, 2008|access-date=2015-05-31}} and Prime Minister Stephen Harper kept Ritz in Cabinet after the 2008 Canadian general election.

In September 2012, E. coli bacteria was found in meat from the XL Foods plant in Brooks, Alberta. This led to over 1800 products being recalled across Canada and the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that 1.1 million kilograms of meat from XL Foods were recalled from American stores.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/xl-foods-to-destroy-all-meat-from-e-coli-recall-1.1273629|title=XL foods to destroy all meat from E.coli recall|work=CBC News|date=October 20, 2012|access-date=2015-05-31}} This was also the largest beef recall in Canadian history, with meat being recalled in every province and territory in Canada and 41 American states.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/xl-foods-didn-t-follow-some-safety-procedures-agency-says-1.1132819|title=XL Foods didn't follow some safety procedures, agency says|work=CBC News|date=October 3, 2012|access-date=2015-05-31}}

=Opposition MP and resignation from politics=

Ritz announced on August 31, 2017, that he intended to resign from the House of Commons in the near future and leave politics to spend more time with family.{{cite news|last1=Aiello|first1=Rachel|title=Long-time Conservative MP Gerry Ritz resigning, not running to lead Saskatchewan Party|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/long-time-conservative-mp-gerry-ritz-resigning-not-running-to-lead-saskatchewan-party-1.3569916|access-date=September 20, 2017|work=CTV News|date=August 31, 2017|language=en-CA}}

On September 19, 2017, Ritz caused controversy when he tweeted a link to a news story stating no industrialized nations were on pace to meet Paris Agreement carbon emission targets with the comment "Has anyone told our climate Barbie! {{sic}}" (referring to Environment Minister Catherine McKenna).{{cite news|title=Canada MP sorry for Catherine McKenna 'climate Barbie' remark|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41343006|access-date=September 20, 2017|work=BBC News|date=September 20, 2017}} Ritz deleted the original post within 20 minutes, afterward posted another message stating: "I apologize for the use of Barbie, it is not reflective of the role the Minister plays".{{cite news|title=Gerry Ritz apologizes for calling Catherine McKenna 'climate Barbie'|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/gerry-ritz-catherine-mckenna-climate-barbie-1.4298005|access-date=September 20, 2017|work=CBC News|date=September 20, 2017|language=en}} Conservative leader Andrew Scheer condemned Ritz's comment later in the day and stated he would reach out to McKenna personally to "assure the minister that this type of behavior has no place in the Conservative caucus".{{cite news|last1=Campion-Smith|first1=Bruce|title=Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer condemns 'Barbie' insult by his own MP|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/09/20/calling-environment-minister-climate-barbie-mp-provokes-outrage.html|work=Toronto Star|date=September 20, 2017|access-date=September 20, 2017|language=en-CA}} The next day Ritz's office issued a statement confirming his resignation from the House of Commons effective October 2, 2017.{{cite news|last1=Dehaas|first1=Josh|title=McKenna calls out outgoing Conservative MP for sexist 'climate Barbie' tweet|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/mckenna-calls-out-outgoing-conservative-mp-for-sexist-climate-barbie-tweet-1.3597464|access-date=December 12, 2017|work=CTV News|date=September 20, 2017|language=en-CA|quote=On Wednesday, Ritz's Parliament Hill office confirmed that he sent a letter of resignation to the Speaker of the House of Commons shortly after announcing he would be resigning, indicating his intent to vacate his seat, effective Oct. 2.}}

Ritz's successor, Rosemarie Falk, was elected in a by-election on December 11, 2017.{{cite news|last1=Menz|first1=Kevin|title=Conservatives win again in Battlefords-Lloydminster|url=http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/conservatives-win-again-in-battlefords-lloydminster-1.3716790|access-date=December 12, 2017|work=CTV News Saskatoon|date=December 11, 2017|language=en-CA}}

Post federal politics

In 2020, Ritz was elected as the reeve for the Rural Municipality of Mervin No. 499.{{cite web |last1=Briere |first1=Karen |title=Gerry Ritz elected reeve in Sask. RM |url=https://www.producer.com/news/gerry-ritz-elected-reeve-in-sask-rm/ |website=The Western Producer |access-date=7 February 2023}}

In 2022, he was involved in helping create the Saskatchewan United Party.{{cite web |title=New Sask. United Party already has leader in legislature |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-united-party-1.6671057 |website=CBC |access-date=7 February 2023}}

Electoral record

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20050403214227/http://www.gerryritzmp.com/ Gerry Ritz] official site
{{Canadian Parliament links| parliament = 170668 | parlinfo = 1175 | openparl = gerry-ritz}}

{{Canadian federal ministry navigational box header |ministry=28}}

{{ministry box cabinet posts

| post1 = Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

| post1years = August 14, 2007 – November 3, 2015

| post1note =

| post1preceded = Chuck Strahl

| post1followed = Lawrence MacAulay

}}

{{ministry box sub-cabinet posts

| post1 = Secretary of State (Small Business & Tourism)

| post1years = January 4, 2007 – July 13, 2007

| post1note =