John Keith Riddell (born December 10, 1931) is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

in Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1973 to 1990, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backg ...

Background

Riddell was educated at the Ontario Agricultural College in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Well ...

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 C ...

, and worked as a high-school teacher and a livestock sales owner and operator-auctioneer. He is a prominent member of the Agricultural Institute of Canada.

Politics

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

on March 16, 1973, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Don Southcott by 2,968 votes in the riding of Huron. He was re-elected by somewhat narrower margins in the elections of

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrati ...

, and

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

, in the redistributed riding of Huron—Middlesex. Riddell was on the traditionalist right-wing of the Liberal Party, and represented agricultural interests in the legislature. He brought forward a private "right-to-farm" bill in the 1980s, attempting to protect farmers against urban incursion and related matters. The Liberal party formed a minority government following the 1985 provincial election, after having been out of power for 42 years. Riddell, re-elected without difficulty, was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Food on June 26, 1985. Easily re-elected again in the 1987 provincial election, Riddell remained Agriculture Minister until August 2, 1989. He did not run for re-election in 1990.

Cabinet positions

Later life

Riddell was president of the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame Association in 2003–04, and has served as president of the Ontario Institute of Agrologists. He is also a prominent member of Heartland Community Credit Union Ltd, which was merged to form United Communities Credit Union, and later

Libro Credit Union Libro Credit Union, Libro, or Libro Credit Union Limited, is a credit union based in London, Ontario, Canada. Libro is owned by its customers, who direct the institution's decisions. Libro offers many financial services, including chequing and sa ...

. On June 11, 2017, Riddell was inducted into the Ontario Agriculture Hall of Fame.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell, Jack 1931 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from London, Ontario