Incoming Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has brought a former provincial agriculture minister back to the cabinet table to handle the ag file.
Ron Kostyshyn, who from 2012 to 2016 was then-premier Greg Selinger’s ag minister while serving as MLA for the northwestern riding of Swan River, was sworn in Wednesday as minister of agriculture in Kinew’s 15-member cabinet.
Kostyshyn, who reclaimed the Dauphin riding for the New Democrats in the Oct. 3 election, ran a family mixed farm for four decades and came to provincial politics after serving as reeve and on council in the municipality of Mossey River.
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His resume also includes stints as a board member with the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, Manitoba Conservation Commission, Intermountain Conservation District, Ethelbert District Veterinary Board and Farm Stewardship Association of Manitoba.
As ag minister, Kostyshyn replaces Derek Johnson, who on Oct. 3 held his riding of Interlake-Gimli for Heather Stefanson’s Progressive Conservatives. The PCs head back to the opposition benches when the provincial legislature resumes sitting next month.
Among other appointments Wednesday of interest to farmers, Kinew was also sworn in as minister of intergovernmental affairs. Keewatinook MLA Ian Bushie, the former transportation and infrastructure critic, was named minister for municipal and northern relations and for Indigenous economic development.
St. Vital MLA Jamie Moses, previously the opposition critic for advanced education, becomes Kinew’s minister for economic development, investment, trade and natural resources.
Tracy Schmidt, a rookie NDP MLA for the northeast Winnipeg riding of Rossmere, was named Kinew’s minister for environment and climate change, while Wolseley MLA Lisa Naylor, previously the NDP’s environment and municipal relations critic, will be minister of transportation and infrastructure.
Kostyshyn’s past experience as agriculture minister and in farming “should provide confidence that Manitoba producers will continue to have a voice at the cabinet table when key decisions are being made that affect their farm operations,” Keystone Agricultural Producers general manager Brenna Mahoney said in a KAP release Wednesday.
Rick Préjet, chair of Manitoba Pork, said in a separate release that the hog producer organization aims to work with the new minister to “build on the collaborative working relationship we have developed with the department over the last number of years, and to ensure that the conditions for growth in agriculture and the hog sector remain in place for many years to come.”
“Having that agricultural and rural perspective around is very important to our members,” Manitoba Beef Producers president Matthew Atkinson said, adding the group hopes to work with the new minster and cabinet “on a variety of matters related to our sector and capturing the opportunities related to it.”
Among those matters, MBP said, are “equitable and responsive business risk management programs to ensure beef producers are on a level playing field with other sectors” as well as the agricultural crown lands leasing program; water management strategies; recognition for ecosystem services; infrastructure needs such as rural connectivity; trade opportunities; and labour supply challenges.
The Wheat Growers Association, in a separate release, said Kostyshyn’s “return to the office that he has previously held will ensure a speedy transition into this role.”
“Meeting the challenges of modern agriculture is a challenge for all of us, but the results are a worthwhile goal,” WGA president Gunter Jochum said. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
