Blois has represented the riding of Kings-Hants in Nova Scotia since 2019
Canada has a new minister of agriculture and rural economic development.
Kody Blois, the Nova Scotia MP from Kings-Hants, received the appointment from new Prime Minister Mark Carney and was sworn in on March 14.
Blois takes the ag portfolio from Lawrence MacAulay, who recently announced his retirement from politics. Blois also absorbs the rural development file from Gudie Hutchings, who on Jan. 9 announced she wasn’t running in the next federal election.
Blois isn’t new to working on ag and rural issues in Ottawa.
He served as parliamentary secretary to both Ministers MacAulay and Hutchings and chaired the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
On some bills, Blois wasn’t shy about voting with opposition parties if the legislation made sense for farmers.
In a March 2023 vote on Bill C-234, a Conservative bill which would provide farmers with additional carbon tax exemptions, Blois was one of three Liberals to vote in favour.
Minister MacAulay voted against it.
Blois also supported Bill C-282, which in its original form protects supply management in all future trade negotiations.
That October, Blois introduced Bill C-359 in the House of Commons, which would speed up regulatory approvals for feeds, seeds and pest control products.
It would provide 90-day “provisional registration or approval of feeds, seeds and pest control products that are already approved by two or more trusted jurisdictions,” the bill says.
Multiple members of the Canadian ag sector supported the bill but it didn’t get past the first reading.
Members of Canada’s ag community are pleased to see Blois have the industry’s portfolio in Ottawa.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois called it “one of the best appointments for the agriculture portfolio in years,” on X.
Multiple industry groups including the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada, the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, and Kyle Larkin, the executive director of Grain Growers of Canada, welcomed Blois to the portfolio and are looking forward to working with the new minister.
Blois may not be the ag minister long before a federal election is called.
Parliament is set to resume on March 24, but political insiders expect Prime Minister Carney to send Canadians to the polls instead.