A veteran Hamilton-area MPP and former cabinet minister is Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s choice for minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs in a cabinet short on ag experience.
Ted McMeekin, the MPP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, was sworn in Thursday as ag minister following the Oct. 6 election, which saw McGuinty’s Liberal government reduced just shy of majority status.
The appointment marks a return to the cabinet table for McMeekin, who’d been dropped from McGuinty’s executive council in January 2010, before which he’d served as minister of consumer services.
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McMeekin, before this month’s election, was once-removed from cabinet as parliamentary assistant to the minister of training, colleges and universities. He’d previously served as minister of government services (2008-09) and minister of government and consumer services (2007-08) and in various parliamentary assistant roles.
The Grain Farmers of Ontario on Thursday hailed McMeekin’s appointment to the ag portfolio, describing him as “a long-time supporter of farmers in Ontario” and as an advocate for the provincial Risk Management Program since it was piloted in 2007.
“Minister McMeekin is a supporter of his local farmers through a local food campaign and this support will now extend right across the province,” GFO chairman Don Kenny said in a release.
The GFO said the province’s farmers will have much to discuss with McMeekin and ministry officials, including proposals for a provincial biodiesel mandate to match the federal two per cent mandate announced earlier this year; a capital cost allowance acceleration for farmers’ capital purchases; and a tax credit for certified seed.
Critic
McMeekin first came to the Ontario legislature in a 2000 byelection, serving as the Liberals’ critic for municipal affairs opposite Mike Harris’ Tories, then as tourism critic opposite then-premier Ernie Eves’ Tory government.
His resume in politics, however, goes back to the local level, where he served as mayor of Flamborough, then as a Hamilton city councillor.
McMeekin holds a master’s degree in social work from Wilfrid Laurier University, where he previously taught, and as executive director of the Burlington Social Planning Council. He also owned and operated a bookstore in Waterdown, where he now lives.
The provincial Tory opposition and third-place NDP have yet to name their shadow cabinets or ag critics, although NDP leader Andrea Horwath said Thursday she will announce her critic roster next week.
Related story:
Ont. Liberals win minority, lose ag minister, Oct. 7, 2011
