Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Canadian Wheat Board Gerry Ritz of Canada

Ritz has been the vice-chair of the House of Commons Agriculture Committee since 2002.

On August 14, 2007, Ritz was promoted to the Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food replacing Chuck Strahl.

Since before he was appointed as Agriculture Minister, Ritz has campaigned to allow farmers to sell their barley in the open market, rather than exclusively through the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB.

Ritz was quoted as saying, "This is like a death by a thousand cuts.

Ritz expressed this measure in daily updates to the media and public during the outbreak.

Ritz had initially received praise during the crisis last month for immediately returning to Ottawa and handling the federal response, although opposition critics decried Health Minister Tony Clement's decision to remain in Denver for the US.

The call for Harper to dismiss Ritz was immediately echoed by NDP Leader Jack Layton, who said Canadians are already tired of "weeks of inaction" from the Conservative government on the listeriosis crisis.

It is the second time Ritz has been urged to resign because of his handling of the outbreak, which has killed 17 people in Canada and prompted a nation-wide recall of Maple Leaf Foods meat products.

Teneycke said, however, that he had no expectation Ritz would resign following the gaffe, adding that Ritz is not disputing the comments reported by the Canadian Press.

With parliament prorogued until late January, local MP Gerry Ritz says it's business as usual for his agriculture portfolio.

David Akin's Cabinet speculation Part I: Gerry Ritz is sa.

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat BoardBattlefords–Lloydminster (Saskatchewan)Gerry Ritz was first elected to Parliament in 1997.

Kory Teneycke, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, said Ritz expressed regret over his remarks to Stephen Harper but there was no suggestion of resigning.

Canoe news reports that Ritz was less contrite when he was asked about his comments after his flight from Saskatoon touched down at the Ottawa airport Wednesday afternoon.

Here's a sampling of this Minister's manner of issuing threatening communications on a significant issue of importance to Canada: Canada's minority Conservative government will introduce on Monday a bill to end the Canadian Wheat Board's barley monopoly by August 1, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said on Friday.

Here's more enlightened statesmanship from Ritz: Ritz said his government may consider the option of making the vote on the barley bill a matter of confidence.

Ritz has not consulted with the CWB board of directors before legislating change -- a step required by law -- Ken Ritter said in a release.

listeria linked to the Maple Leaf Foods meat recall says he is furious federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was making jokes about the listeriosis outbreak six days after her.

doing their job properly, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Wednesday, shortly after Maple Leaf's president took the blame for distributing the tainted meat that caused the.

But when its a Conservative, the only backlash Ritz is getting is for apologizing?Oh, and heres another beauty of a quote.

When Harper decided not to fire Ritz, he looked at the whole package, not just what Ritz said at that teleconference and that he apoligized.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the US.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Tuesday the US.

Ritz is leading a high level delegation to India.

Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz says legislation to end the Canadian Wheat Board's single desk on barley has been put on hold.

The final months of 2008 were a wild political ride by any measure, but local MP Gerry Ritz said 2009 should be a return to normalcy.

Questions raised about when the public was alerted of listeria fears.

Ritz was too anxious to declare the outbreak as over, the sources said.

Ritz was making a stupid, ghoulish joke in a private meeting.

I doubt Ritz was suffering from psychological anguish.

I dont see any reasons to believe Ritz is a breed apart.

During a recent Government debriefing Mr Ritz was quoted as saying the crisis was death by a "thousand cold cuts", referring to the meat products at the centre of the outbreak.

Gerry Ritz was first elected to Parliament in 1997.

Ritz was the Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

Ritz has run his own farming operation, owned and operated a general contracting business and co-owned a weekly newspaper.

Ritz is married to Judy and has two adult children.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz took some major heat this week after information was leaked regarding some inappropriate jokes he made in relation to Canadas listeriosis breakout.

So why pretend otherwise, unless it is to score cheap political points?Sure, Ritz is the minister responsible for food safety.

Ritz was forced to publicly apologize late Wednesday after The Canadian Press reported his wisecracks made during the Aug 30 government conference call.

During the conference call, Ritz was deeply concerned about the political fallout as listeriosis claimed more victims in the days before the federal election call, according to sources who were listening in.

It was a highly-stressful time,” Ritz said in his original prepared statement.

Ritz said he wanted to offer his "most humble and heartfelt regrets to the families of those affected by this tragedy.

Ritz said he phoned Easter earlier in the day Wednesday and apologized for his remark.

Ritz has demonstrated a cavalier attitude towards this critical issue from Day 1," said NDP Leader Jack Layton.

Its shocking that Gerry Ritz is back as Agri Minister.

If Ritz had any honour, he wouldnt accept the post.

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Home >Gerry Ritz has apologized f.

OTTAWA (AFP) Canada's agriculture minister faced calls for his resignation Thursday during an election campaign, for his handling of a tainted deli meats outbreak that recently killed 17, and for joking about it.

I apologize unreservedly," Ritz said in a statement.

They claim Ritz expressed worry about the political fallout of the outbreak and then joked: "This is like a death by a thousand cuts.

When Ritz was informed of a new death in the outbreak, which has been linked to a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto, he said: "Please tell me it's Wayne Easter.