Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture had been named to the Canadian Senate.

Saskatchewan farmer Todd Lewis was appointed to the Upper Chamber by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Feb. 7.

In a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Lewis was described as a “strong voice for the Saskatchewan agriculture industry and dedicated community leader throughout his life.”

Lewis is the fourth generation to work the family farm in Gray, Sask., south of Regina. He is the former president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and is currently a vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

Lewis is the second member of the CFA executive to be named to the Senate in as many years. In early 2024, former CFA president Mary Robinson was named to the Upper House. These latest appointments signal a step to enhance the expertise in the agricultural sector.

A veteran farmer, Lewis has spent decades advocating for the agricultural sector and his local community. He has taken on roles with the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce environment committee, worked with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Crop Logistics Working Group, was a member of the board of directors of the Western Grains Research Foundation and Saskatchewan’s provincial Water Advisory Group. He is also a member of the Canadian National Railway Agricultural Advisory Council.

He has also served two decades as a municipal councillor and has been a volunteer firefighter.

In 2017, Trudeau visited his farm, drawing attention to the grain industry and its importance in the rural economy and to Lewis’s efforts in representing producers.

Lewis’s Senate appointment was one of three announced earlier this month. The other appointees to the Upper Chamber were Baltej Dhillon, a former police officer from British Columbia who was the first RCMP officer to wear a turban on duty; and Martine Hébert, an economist from Quebec, who represented the province as its delegate to Chicago and New York. Hébert also worked with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, was an associate commissioner of the Great Lakes Commission and was a director of Government and Professional Affairs for the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés du Québec, and an adviser on provincial policy.

Cutline:

Todd Lewis was named to the Senate on Feb. 7.