Rural economic development is the title of a new federal ministry. Bernadette Jordan, MP (South Shore-St. Margarets) from Nova Scotia was appointed minister of the new portfolio on January 14, 2019. Elected in 2015, she has most recently been parliamentary secretary to the minister of democratic institutions. 

Ron Bonnett, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) noted: "We look forward to working with Minister Jordan and discussing the CFA's key rural priorities which include introducing long-term, predictable infrastructure funding with provisions to address the full breadth of rural and agricultural infrastructure needs, including transportation bottlenecks, access to clean water and wastewater treatment, infrastructure that leverages on-farm renewable energy production and enables access to natural gas, and access to modern, affordable high-speed internet."

The news release noted that as a rural-based industry, the competitiveness of Canada's agri-food sector is intimately connected to the vibrancy of rural communities, and critically important to Canada's economic growth.

Source: Canadian Federation of Agriculture January 14, 2019 news release