Greg Rickford (born September 24, 1967) is a Canadian politician. He is the Minister of Northern Development and Minister of Indigenous Affairs in the

Executive Council of Ontario The Executive Council of Ontario (french: Conseil des ministres de l'Ontario), often informally referred to as the Cabinet of Ontario (french: Cabinet de l'Ontario, links=no), is the cabinet of the Canadian province of Ontario. It comprises minis ...

under

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since March 2018. He ...

. He represents the Kenora-Rainy River riding in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

. Rickford previously served as the federal

Minister of Natural Resources The minister of natural resources () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfolio ...

and as the Minister of State for Science and Technology in the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

. He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

in the 2008 federal election and represented the electoral district of Kenora as a member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

until his defeat in the 2015 election.

Birth, nursing and law

Rickford was born in Paris, Ontario on September 24, 1967. He worked as a nurse and lawyer in the remote

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

communities of the

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it large ...

Federal politics

Rickford was elected to represent the

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of Kenora in the 2008 federal election and re-elected in the 2011 election. A member of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

, Rickford was the first Conservative MP elected in the Kenora riding and the first

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

MP to represent the Kenora area since 1921. Prime Minister

appointed Rickford to become Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages on August 30, 2010. On January 30, 2011, Rickford was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. On July 15, 2013, he was appointed the Minister of State (Science and Technology, and Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario). On March 19, 2014, he was appointed to succeed Joe Oliver as

. He was defeated in the October 19,

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election held on October 19, 2015, saw the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, win 184 seats, allowing it to form a majority government with Trudeau becoming the next prime minister. The election was held to elect m ...

by Bob Nault. Nault had represented the predecessor riding of Kenora-Rainy River from 1988 until 2004, when he chose not to run in the

2004 Canadian federal election The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority but was able to continue in ...

. Rickford was pushed into third place, behind Nault and former

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...

leader

Howard Hampton Howard George Hampton (born May 17, 1952) is a politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament for the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, from 1987 to 1999 in the electoral district of Rainy Ri ...

Provincial politics

Rickford re-entered politics on November 18, 2017, when he was acclaimed as the Ontario PC Party candidate in Kenora—Rainy River for the 2018 election."Rickford offically named PC candidate for Kenora-Rainy River"
''

Kenora Daily Miner and News The ''Kenora Miner and News'' is a weekly publication based in Kenora, Ontario. The ''Miner and News'' is delivered free throughout the region every Thursday. The ''Miner and News'' is owned by Postmedia. The paper was formerly known as the ''K ...

'', November 19, 2017. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the June 7, election and Rickford was elected in his riding. On June 29, 2018, Rickford was appointed Ministry of Energy, Mines, Northern Development and Indigenous Affairs in the

Electoral record

Cabinet positions

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rickford, Greg 1967 births Conservative Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Sportspeople from the County of Brant People from Kenora Mining ministers of Canada McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Université Laval alumni Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs