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MOOSOMIN — A name familiar to many in Saskatchewan agriculture has been appointed to the Senate of Canada. Todd Lewis was one of three newly appointed independent senators to fill vacancies in the house. Gov. Gen. Mary Simon appointed Lewis along with retired police officer Baltej Dhillon from British Columbia and economist Martine Hébert from Quebec.

“Congratulations to Mr. Dhillon, Ms. Hébert, and Mr. Lewis on their appointment as Parliament’s newest independent senators,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when the appointment occurred on February 7. “Their broad range of experience will be a great benefit to the Senate, and I am confident they will continue to be strong voices for their communities.”

There have been 93 Senate appointments under the Trudeau government.

The job of these new senators once they join their peers is to examine and revise legislation, investigate national issues, and represent the interests of their respective regions.

Long-time volunteer

Lewis is a fourth-generation producer on the family farm (established in 1904) located near the hamlet of Gray, just south of Regina. Along with his wife Terry, brother Rod, and nephew Brendan, they keep their grain operation thriving.

A long-time advocate in the province’s agriculture industry, Lewis is currently the first vice president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and a member of the Canadian National Railway Agricultural Advisory Council. Added to that, Lewis is a past-present of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and served on many committees including the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce Environment Committee, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Crop Logistics Working Group, Board of Directors of the Western Grains Research Foundation, and the Provincial Water Advisory Group. 

“We’re pretty excited and proud when we heard that announcement,” said Bill Prybylski, APAS president. “It’s not only good for our reputation at APAS and the CFA, good for Saskatchewan, but it’s good for Canada as a whole. Todd is just an incredible individual with an incredible mind in recognizing issues and how they affect everything, every aspect around it.”

Prybylski sees Lewis’ appointment to the Senate as an opportunity to “implement some change for the betterment of everybody.”

“Anytime we can represent producers, it’s only a benefit to producers and to the province as a whole,” he said.

At the more local level, Lewis has been on council with the RM of Lajord for more than 20 years, currently serving as Deputy Reeve.

The World-Spectator interviewed Lewis last week:

How does a Saskatchewan farmer become appointed to the Senate of Canada?

Well, I’ve asked myself that a few times. All the time in my advocacy for agriculture, I always try to be non-partisan and also respectful and make the hard arguments, but at the same time, don’t make them personal and do what is best for Saskatchewan agriculture, and Canadian agriculture as well. That has resonated with folks, and I certainly wasn’t expecting this appointment to the Senate, but it is very much appreciated. It sure is a great opportunity and a real challenge going forward.

What will your new job entail? 

Just to get my feet wet in it now. I have appeared before Senate committees in the past on various bills, so it will be interesting on the other side of the table. The Senate is a place where a lot of research gets done, the true house of “sober second thought.” When bills come through, it’s a final sounding board for groups that want to get their point across, about how a bill will affect their lives. I’m sure there’s going to be a big learning curve over the next months and probably years to really find out the true nuances of everything at the Senate. But so far so good, and I’m really quite looking forward to getting involved with what happens at the Senate.

There’s six senators from Saskatchewan, and I look forward to working with them. Senate is a very welcoming place, a number of senators have reached out and certainly the transition team they have there is excellent. There’s lots of help for a first-timer like me to get involved. Last week, I was in the in Ottawa for the FCC Farming for the Future event. I got a chance on Tuesday afternoon to go and get my security clearance and tour the Senate and all those kind of things, and there will be orientation next week. You get involved pretty quickly, and it’s a very interesting time to be involved, of course, with anything in Ottawa with everything that’s going on with the upcoming election, and the Liberal leadership, and certainly everything that’s going on internationally, with the tariffs and all those kind of things.

How important is it to have an agricultural voice in the Senate? Are there many farmers sitting around that table?

As far as active farmers, Mary Robinson from Prince Edward Island—she has been in the Senate for a year. Senator Robert Black had an agriculture background in his career before the Senate, and he’s from Ontario. But from Western Canada, as far as a straight ag voice, it’s been a few years. 

I look forward to not only looking out for Saskatchewan producers, but Western Canadian producers and agriculture in general across the country. It certainly is an interesting time and it’s nice to see some ag folks at the Senate because we’re so much a part of the overall economy, and for it to be recognized as a position in the Senate is really an honour and really an opportunity.

A lot of people just don’t realize the activity that does happen, where our food comes from and how we produce it, and how good a job we do producing it. Not only good quality food, but the buzzword is always ‘sustainable agriculture,’ but really, in Saskatchewan, that’s what we do. In a lot of ways, over the number of years that I’ve farmed, the overall soil health and carbon management and all the buzzwords that they talk about—well, that’s what Saskatchewan producers and ranchers have been doing for the last number of decades. We really lead the world in it, so that viewpoint and information should be helpful to the Senate and influence some of the policy that comes out of Ottawa.

How much time will you be spending in Ottawa?

You don’t have to jump in right away, as far as moving to Ottawa or all that kind of thing. Very few of the senators do actually live in Ottawa, they have temporary accommodation. So that will be a learning curve as well. I’m fortunate, I wouldn’t have been able to spend so much time with APAS and the CFA if I didn’t have lots of support—my brother Rod and nephew Brendan, the work they do on the farm has certainly given me time to pursue some of these other things. That will certainly continue, and I hope to still be involved in the farm, but there will be less time at certain times of year, that’s for sure.

How did you find out about the appointment?

A couple years ago, there was a call for applications, and you apply to an independent committee. There were some openings coming up with senators retiring, it’s mandatory retirement at 75. I put the application in and never really heard anything about it.

Then about a month or so ago, I got a phone call from a gentleman if I was still interested in the application. I said I was, and really never thought much else of it. Then quite quickly, there was an interview process with the Independent Senate Board, one thing led to another, and there was an interview over a Zoom call.

The final step is the prime minister appoints you and I received a phone call from the prime minister at home, which is certainly something that doesn’t happen every day! I was asked if I would accept the position, and I said I would. Before the announcement is made, the Governor General signs off on it and then the Prime Minister announces it. There will be a swearing in 小蓝视频 that happens on the floor of the Senate, but the Senate has to be sitting. It’s a ceremonial part of a welcoming to the Senate from the other senators, but it’s something that is kind of up in the air right now with the Liberal leadership that’s going on and who knows if the new prime minister will call an election right away, or they’ll come back for a couple days in March. It’s all part of the very interesting times that we’re getting involved in. There’s lots of things to be determined for sure.

Do you think this will put the Hamlet of Gray on the map?

Gray has already been on the map many times! The Senate, when you do your official paperwork, they won’t recognize a hamlet. So, in the official paperwork, it’s the RM of Lajord No. 128, which I’ve been a councillor there for 20 years, they see it recognized. But it would have been really neat to see ‘Todd Lewis of Gray, Saskatchewan!’ Lots of good curlers came out of Gray, lots of interesting people. It’s an honor and really humbling. I had so many calls, so many people congratulate me, and people in the agriculture industry and people involved with APAS, lots of old acquaintances. It’s a long way from Gray, Saskatchewan to Ottawa, that’s for sure.