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Gerry Ritz, PC, MP (born August 19, 1951) is Canada's Agriculture minister and a Canadian Member of Parliament for Battlefords—Lloydminster, a largely rural riding in Saskatchewan. Born in Delisle, Saskatchewan, he was elected as the Reform Party candidate in 1997, and then re-elected with the Canadian Alliance in 2000 and the Conservative Party of Canada in 2004. Ritz has been the vice-chair of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee since 2002. He was appointed Secretary of State for small business and tourism in the Harper government on January 4, 2006. On August 14 2007, Ritz was promoted to the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food replacing Chuck Strahl.

Prior to his political career, Ritz worked as a farmer at the family farm for over 20 years and owned a contracting business company.

Ritz is married since 1975 and has two children.

Remarks during 2008 Canadian listeriosis outbreak

Ritz made national news, when negative comments he made on August 30, 2008, in response to the 2008 Canadian listeriosis outbreak were made public. Ritz 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 has apologized for his comments and Prime Minister Stephen Harper has accepted, choosing to keep the Minister in Cabinet after an overwelming victory (60%) in the Minister's home riding of Battleford. Opposition parties have expressed that the apology is not enough NDP Leader Jack Layton by saying, "Canadians are dying because of the mismanagement of our government . . . there should absolutely never be that kind of humour... It illustrates the government is not taking this matter as seriously as they should." A spokesperson for Harper released a statement saying Ritz comments were tasteless and completely inappropriate.

At the time of the Listeriosis outbreak, Prime Minister Harper announced that an independent investigation would be conducted in order to identify and fix any shortfalls that might come. Ritz expressed this measure in daily updates to the media and public during the outbreak. The Canadian Government had previously enhanced the country's food safety system by adding $113 Million to a Food and Safety program designed to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

>Brian Laghi, Campbell Clark, Karen Howlett (2008-09-18). "Harper stands by Ritz despite 'tasteless' jokes". Retrieved 2008-09-18.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)</ref>

On September 18, 2008 the son of a woman whose death in August was linked to the nationwide listeriosis outbreak called for the firing of Ritz. Dennis Schroh's mother, Elizabeth Schroh, died on Aug. 24 at the age of 82. She was a resident of a nursing home located in the riding Ritz represents as a member of Parliament. Schroh told The Canadian Press he was upset when he found out that Ritz had joked about the deadly outbreak during a conference call with scientists and political officials just six days after his mother's death.

References

1. "About Gerry Ritz - Member of Parliament for the Battlefords and Lloydminster". Gerry Ritz. 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
2. "MacKay takes over defence in cabinet shuffle". ctv.ca. 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
3. "Ritz sorry for 'tasteless' Listeria comments". Retrieved 2008-09-17.
4. Rod Nickel. "Son of listeriosis victim 'very hurt' by minister's joke". Retrieved 2008-09-19.
5. CTV News Staff. "Son of Listeriosis victim calls for Ritz's firing". Retrieved 2008-09-18.

External links

• Official Site
• Parliament Webpage

• 1951 births
• Current Members of the Canadian House of Commons
• Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
• Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Saskatchewan
• Reform Party of Canada MPs
• Canadian Alliance MPs
• Conservative Party of Canada MPs
• Living people