A previous Progressive Conservative agriculture critic is taking over the reins as Manitoba's next agriculture minister.
On Tuesday following his official swearing-in, Premier Brian Pallister announced the members of his cabinet, naming Lakeside MLA Ralph Eichler as the new Minister of Agriculture.
Eichler, who has served as Tory ag critic multiple times in past, was one of several rural MLAs to be named to cabinet, such as Blaine Pedersen of Midland and Ian Wishart of Portage la Prairie. Eichler thinks the members of Pallister's cabinet will certainly be able to understand their rural constituents, but says they may need to get to know their urban base a little better.
For Eichler, that may entail working on building consumer trust of farming.
"(We need to) help people understand the fact that their meat doesn't come from Safeway, it comes from those farm producers that take it very seriously. And we have some of the safest, most economical food in the world right here in Manitoba, so we have lots to work with... so I'm looking forward to those challenges," Eichler says.
Source : Steinbachonline