Marie-Claude Bibeau has become Canada’s first female Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the first Quebec MP in decades to hold the post.
She is the daughter of a dairy farmer and said "It's a huge privilege. I come from a rural riding, a dairy riding, in fact, in the south of Quebec, so I'm very close to the producers in Quebec."
She takes over from Lawrence MacAulay who is now the Minister of Veterans Affairs.
The shuffle was triggered by the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould from Minister of Veterans Affairs.
She is at the centre of a controversy over whether SNC Lavalin needs to face criminal charges in court or can negotiate a settlement under new provisions tucked into the most recent federal budget legislation.
The dairy file is sensitive now that free trade deals with Europe, the United States and the Trans-Pacific Partnership are increasing imports and curbing domestic policies, in particular scrapping a new low-price category designed to offset imports and increase export opportunities.
MacAulay was probably best known as agriculture minister for his frequent trips to promote trade. I can't think of anything much all that expensive traveling accomplished.
