Federal ag minister is one of the longest serving MPs in the House of Commons
By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s ag minister, will run in next year’s election looking to extend his 30-year career in politics.
The minister is one of Canada’s longest-serving members of Parliament (MP), an iPolitics article said on Monday.
MacAulay, 72, is a retired dairy and seed-potato farmer. His political career began on Nov. 21, 1988 when elected as Prince Edward Island’s premier. Since then, MacAulay has been the MP for the Cardigan riding for 30 years, the article said.
This re-election streak has earned MacAulay the feat of being the longest-serving MP from P.E.I and he is a well-known face in the House of Commons.
Indeed, next year will be his tenth term, if re-elected, the article said.
The longest consecutive term record for an MP is 41 years and two-and-a-half months, held by Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Laurier was Canada’s first francophone prime minister, the article said.
MacAulay has been Canada’s minister of ag since Oct. 2015. In addition to this position, he has served as minister of state for veterans, labour minister and solicitor general, the article said.
As the ag minister, MacAulay is responsible for Canada’s Agricultural Review Tribunal, the Canadian Dairy Commission, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Farm Credit Canada and Farm Products Council of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s website said.
The minister was born on Sept. 9, 1946 in St. Peter’s Bay, P.E.I. He married Frances Elaine O’Connell in 1972 and the couple has three children: Carolyn, Rita and Lynn, the website said.
Throughout his political career, MacAulay has dealt with many significant events involving Canada and countries around the world, including 9/11 in Sept. 2001 and the recent signing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.