Battlefords-Lloydminster member of parliament Gerry Ritz has announced he is resigning his seat, ending 20 years of representing northwest Saskatchewan in the House of Commons.
News that Ritz would resign circulated Wednesday afternoon in Ottawa, and it was confirmed Thursday morning on social media when Ritz released a statement on Twitter. It read as follows:
"Today I am announcing my intent to resign as the Member of Parliament for Battlefords-Lloydminster. I will not be returning to my seat in the House of Commons this fall.
"It has been a sincere honour and privilege to serve the people of Battlefords-Lloydminster. I thank them for the confidence they placed in me for the past 20 years.
'I also want to thank my colleagues in both the House and the Senate, as well as the civil service. I also want to thank all of the staff with whom I had the pleasure of working in my capacity as Member of Parliament and as the Minister of Agriculture. They have all proved themselves to be exceptional people, with the best interest of our great country Canada at heart."
In speaking to the News-Optimist Thursday morning, Ritz made it clear he was turning the page on his political career. His focus would be on his private life from now on.
“There comes a time when you look at everything that’s happening, everything that’s going by,” said Ritz. “I’m 66 now, it’s the right time.”
Ritz made clear he is looking forward to spending more time at home with his family, something he had to put on the backburner during his years travelling on government business to Ottawa around the world.
“I owe some time for my family,” said Ritz. “My grandson’s tenth birthday is coming up on Sunday and I think I’ve been to three of them so far. It’s just time to reacquaint myself to family and friends and turn the page and start a new chapter.”
Along with Deepak Obhrai, Ritz shares the distinction of having the longest current tenure of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons. Both of them were elected as Reform MPs in 1997.
After the Conservatives took power, Ritz was appointed to cabinet, which included a long tenure as minister of agriculture starting in 2007.
Ritz’s time in office was not without controversy; he had to publicly apologize for his now-infamous “listeriosis jokes” during the listeriosis outbreak of 2008.
Despite that, Ritz stayed on in cabinet, serving as the lead Saskatchewan minister in the Harper cabinet until 2015. Ritz looks back with pride on what he was able to accomplish in office.
“There’s infrastructure projects that we were a big part of,” Ritz said, pointing to the Credit Union CUPlex which received federal money, as well as water and sewer projects.
He also pointed to his work on the agriculture file, including his role in dealing with the transportation rail issues of 2013 in hauling grain to market, and the resolution of that.
“Agriculture is a big footprint in Canada, the third largest contributor of the GDP,” said Ritz.
He made the decision to run again in 2015 hoping the Conservative government could return to office “so we could finish off things like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that’s so important to this area and our oil and gas sector and so forth. So it’s frustrating to not see that moving forward, but at the end of the day someone new may come at it from a different tact and make it happen.”
While Ritz admits it was frustrating in opposition, where “you’re trying to steer a train from the back,” he said, he insists it was not the reason he decided to leave politics. Family, and the passage of time, were the main factors.
“I looked up one day and I was 65 and realized 20 years of service was coming up,” said Ritz. “And I thought, wow, that went by quick.”
Ritz’s departure comes at a time of change for the federal Conservatives. In May, the party elected Regina-Qu’Appelle MP Andrew Scheer as its new leader, and they have been seeking to bring some fresh faces to their leadership team in the House of Commons.
Speculation mounted about Ritz's own political future immediately after Scheer appointed his shadow cabinet Wednesday.
Ritz was not included in that list, with Dean Allison taking over his former role as critic for International Trade. Two MPs from ridings bordering Battlefords-Lloydminister were also included in the shadow cabinet: Kelly Block from Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek remained transport critic while Shannon Stubbs from the Alberta riding of Lakeland was named shadow minister for Natural Resources.
Ritz pointed to the party’s current push for renewal as another reason why it was time to leave.
“At the end of the day the timing is right,” said Ritz. “We’ve got a dynamic young leader, who I was happy to support and push to get in there, and he’s got young dynamic people in there, the next generation who need their chance. So it’s time for those of us who’ve had our rough surfaces polished off over the years to step aside.”
While Ritz has made his resignation announcement, it does not take place immediately. There is still a procedure that must be followed in notifying the Speaker and winding down his office in Ottawa. However, Ritz will not attend the fall sitting of the Commons.
Back home, Ritz’s riding office back in North Battleford will remain open to deal with any federal inquiries in the meantime, including the continuing heavy volume of calls on immigration issues.
As well, other federal Conservative MPs from neighbouring ridings will be available to take up riding-related issues.
As for what is next for the riding itself, a by-election will be needed, but Ritz notes the timing of that will be up to the Prime Minister.
There are some other MPs who have stepped aside as well including former interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose, so it is likely a number of by-elections will be held at the same time to fill a number of vacancies. The by-election would have to be called within a year, by rule.
The Conservative association will need to get to work in setting up a nomination meeting and finding a candidate for the byelection, as will the other parties. Ritz believes the local Conservative association will be ready.
“It’s in good shape, the riding association. We have money in the bank to fight a couple of elections, and of course a good strong membership base after the leadership race last fall and through the winter and spring.”
Ritz expressed appreciation to the people of Battlefords-Lloydminster for allowing him to serve them in the House of Commons for so many years.
“It was a good run, I look back with pride on a lot of what we accomplished,” said Ritz.
