Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

New Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs, Jeff Leal, Who is he and will he be a good Minister of Ag?

 

 

Jeff Leal

Political Career

  • Minister of Rural Affairs, February 2013 – May 2014
  • Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, October 2007 – February 2010
  • Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment, September 2006 – September 2007
  • Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy, November 2005 – September 2006
  • Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, June 2005 – November 2005
  • Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, September 2004 – June 2005
  • Second Deputy Mayor, Peterborough
  • City Councillor, Peterborough

Education

  • B.A. (Honours), Economics and Political Science, Trent University
  • Business Administration degree (Honours), University of Windsor

Personal and Family Life

  • Married (Karan) with two children, Braden and Shanae

Executive Biography

Jeff Leal was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2003 as the MPP for Peterborough. He was re-elected in 2007, 2011 and 2014.

Leal was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs in June 2014. He has served as Chief Government Whip, and as Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministers of Aboriginal Affairs, the Environment, Energy, Economic Development and Trade, and Training, Colleges and Universities.

Prior to being elected to the legislature, Leal was a Peterborough city councillor and second deputy mayor. He has worked extensively with the county and local governments, as well as the City of Peterborough.

From the Ontario Government website.

Views: 1128

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on June 24, 2014 at 9:53am
Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on June 25, 2014 at 2:35am

OHRIA Welcomes Minister Leal.

OHRIA News

The Ontario Horse Racing Industry Association is pleased with the announcement that Premier Kathleen Wynne has named Jeff Leal as Minister of Agriculture and Food, taking over those duties from Wynne.

 

The Agriculture portfolio is very important for members of the horse racing industry, and OHRIA looks forward to dealing with Minister Leal in this key position.

 

As Minister Leal will also be continuing in the position of Minister of Rural Affairs, we know the Minister already has a great insight into the concerns of our members and we are interested in building our relationship further.

 

"The past two years have seen tremendous changes for our industry, with significant issues that need to be addressed and Minister Leal has already demonstrated through word and action a genuine concern for the horse racing and breeding industry," said Sue Leslie, President and Chair of OHRIA. "We expect the government will be a strong partner in tackling these concerns in the next few months."

 

Prior to the cancellation of the Slots at Racetracks Program 60,000 people were employed in the horse racing and breeding sectors. The industry continues to employ tens of thousands and plays an important role in the economy of rural Ontario, and OHRIA looks forward to our next meeting with Minister Leal to work together on building a strong partnership with the government.

Permalink Reply by OntAG Admin on June 26, 2014 at 1:34am

OFA committed to working with new provincial cabinet.

OFA News

GUELPH, ON [June 24, 2014] – In a post-election cabinet shuffle, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced today the re-amalgamation of the agriculture and rural affairs ministries. The cabinet announcement also included changes to other ministry portfolios. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is supportive of all the changes and will continue working closely with the various ministries to address important issues affecting the business of farming in Ontario.

Ontario’s agriculture and food industries are affected by a number of portfolios across multiple ministries. The OFA looks forward to working with new and returning Ministers and policy makers in their areas of legislative responsibility.

The OFA welcomes returning Minister Jeff Leal to his expanded portfolio as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. As former Minister of Rural Affairs, Leal is familiar with both the rural and agricultural landscape. The OFA will work closely with him to champion agriculture, food and rural issues across other ministries, particularly Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. 

Led by Minister Brad Duguid, the newly reconstituted Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure will prove to be important to the agriculture and agri-food sector’s plans for economic growth in Ontario. OFA will work with Minister Duguid on the Liberal party’s promise to enable natural gas connections across rural Ontario. Natural gas expansion across our province is a sound investment and will improve the competitiveness of farms and other rural businesses.

Continuing with its focus on food literacy, the OFA will work with the new Minister of Health, Dr. Eric Hoskins, and returning Minister of Education Liz Sandals, to develop a long-term strategy to reintroduce nutrition and food preparation into Ontario’s education system. The OFA also looks forward to working with former Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ted McMeekin, in his new role as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. McMeekin will lead the review of the Greenbelt, Oak Ridges and Niagara Escarpment Plans and the OFA will be at the table to ensure farming and food businesses remain sustainable within these land-use designated areas. OFA will work closely with Reza Moridi, the new Minister of Research and Innovation, to continue critical agricultural research into new markets, climate change and enhanced productivity.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture is the largest general farm organization in Ontario. As a dynamic farmer-led organization based in Guelph, the OFA works to represent and champion the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more. OFA is the leading advocate for Ontario’s farmers and is Ontario’s voice of the farmer.

▶ Reply to Discussion

RSS

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Ukraine-Russian Peace Deal Impact on Grain, Fertilizer and Energy Markets

A peace framework that reduces geo-political tensions in the Black Sea region would likely exert downward pressure on crude oil prices.

Ontario government invests $1.5 million in Morrisburg's Alinova Canada Inc. plant

Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli was in Morrisburg on Tuesday to announce a $1.5 million investment in Canada’s first non-GMO soy milk powder processing plant. Alinova Canada Inc. is a joint venture between Japan’s second largest soy milk producer, Marusan Ai, and Ontario-based David J Hendrick International Inc. (DJHII) valued at $23.9 million. The facility in Morrisburg, located at the former Homestead Organics site, is still being retrofitted and is expected to open early in 2026. Once it is fully operational, the plant will process food-grade soybeans from Eastern Ontario farms into powder for use in soy-based products. The operation is expecting to ramp up to eventually produce over 1,200 metric tonnes of soy milk powder per year. Putting South Dundas on the map for agri-food processing and innovation, DJHII founder Hendrick said he expects to eventually hire 15 staffers for the plant and has already started onboarding, sharing kind w

Ontario Secures $24-Million Agri-Food Investment with New Soymilk Powder Plant in Morrisburg

Ontario’s agri-food sector is set for a significant boost as Alinova Canada Inc. invests nearly $24 million to build the country’s first non-GMO soymilk powder processing plant, a project expected to create 15 jobs and strengthen the province’s export capacity. The provincial government announced the investment Monday, positioning it as a strategic move that will expand domestic processing capacity and reinforce Ontario’s reputation as a global supplier of soy-based ingredients. “Alinova Canada’s investment is a vote of confidence in our province’s manufacturing capabilities and in our world-class workers,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “With their new Morrisburg facility, Alinova is onshoring key processing capacity from Japan for Ontario’s agri-food supply chain, creating good-paying jobs, and driving long-term economic growth in Eastern Ontario.” Alinova is a joint venture between Japan’s second-largest soymilk producer, Marusan Ai, an

Advancing Sustainability Solutions Through Collection Audits

One of our duties and responsibilities as Recycling Ambassadors for Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council (SWRC) was to travel around the province and spread the word about proper drop off for oil, antifreeze & diesel exhaust fluid containers. We have learned that a farm can produce dozens of these containers every year, as well as hundreds of other plastic containers, like pesticide and fertilizer jugs. We saw this first-hand when we joined Cleanfarms for two projects in June 2025: a Rinse Rate Study and a Seed, Pesticide & Inoculant (SPI) Bag Audit. We had the opportunity to meet Cleanfarms Program Advisors, Tammy Shields and Serena Klippenstein in Naicam, SK, at Curtis Ltd. We split into two teams for efficiency and got to work. One team examined the SPI bags, and the other examined the rinse rate for chemical jugs. In the SPI bag audit, we sorted, counted, and weighed different materials – multi-layered paper bags, low density polyethylene (LDPE) bags, and polypropylene (PP) totes.

Interesting Facts About Our Agriculture Industry

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is home to over 300 different farms. Farm Cash Receipts were $163.9 million in 2023, up 9.8% from 2022. The largest crop commodity is Greenhouse and Nursery, accounting for 6.1 per cent of total Farm Cash Receipts. Value of vegetable production remained unchanged at $7.0 million; the top two vegetable crops in 2023 were turnips and potatoes. The top five crops in 2023 accounted for 71 per cent of all vegetable sales; they are as follows: potato, turnip, carrot, cabbage and pumpkin. Farm Cash Receipts for fruit production rose 13.0 per cent in 2023 to $1.9 million; with strawberries being the highest valued crop at $0.9 million. In terms of berries, strawberries are the largest in terms of value, cranberries are largest by volume produced and blueberries are the largest by area of production. The province has ten commercial apiculture (beekeeping) operations producing a variety of honey and beeswax products plus providing pollination services fo

© 2025   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service