The Alvinston farmer who was the Agriculture Minister in the John Turner government has passed away.

Ralph Ferguson died Aug. 30 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s according to a Facebook post from his son, John.

Ferguson farmed and conserved his family’s land in Brooke Township for years and was active in farm politics long before he was elected to the House of Commons. He was the co-founder of the Lambton Pork Producers Association and in the 1950s, he was the chairman of the Lambton County Egg Producers.

From 1972 to 1976 he was a charter member of the National Farm Products Marketing Council in Ottawa; and was one of the “founding fathers” of supply management in Canada.

The long-time Liberal was first elected to the House of Commons in March 1980 in the Pierre Trudeau government wrestling the seat from Sid Fraleigh – the local Conservative MP at the time. The two would fight for the Lambton-Middlesex Riding for four elections over a span of eight years.

Ferguson was in power with the Liberals from 1980 to 1984 including a two-and-a-half month stint as agriculture minister when John Turner briefly formed government after the resignation of Trudeau. But Fraleigh came to power in the 1984 Tory sweep that brought Brian Mulroney to power. Ferguson returned to power in 1988 as a member of the opposition and served until 1993.

Fergurson served as parliamentary secretary the Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism from 1980 to 1982, Deputy Government Whip 1982 to 1984, and parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Finance from March to June 1984.

Ferguson was involved in several trade missions, championing the idea of export market expansion. He played a role in the creation of the Canadian Agricultural Export Corporation which was disbanded by the Mulroney government.

One of his most important acts as the Minister of Agriculture was to the first controlled environment seed bank in an effort to protect parent seed stocks.

In his first speech in the House of Commons, Ferguson told the story of his riding, including the rich oil history of the region. He also talked about his hopes for a new, renewable energy source being developed in Lambton-Middlesex from waste.

And, he recognized a problem which still exists today – the regional differences between Canada’s east and west.

“I am aware of the traditional differences which historically
have developed between the east and the west as well as
between individual regions, misunderstandings which unfortunately
seem to be increasing in intensity rather than decreasing,” he said.
“Perhaps it is due to the nature of modern day communications
that we are instantaneously aware of regional advantages
and disadvantages. It sometimes seems we have forgotten the
hopes and dreams of the Fathers of Confederation as they
struggled to unite this vast and diverse land into one great
nation.
“If we are to fulfill our duties in this House we must not
forget that we all have a common bond-the bond of being a
Canadian. Whether we were elected to represent a constituency
in the east or in the west, we were elected to the Parliament
of Canada. This institution is Canada, and if we are to fulfill
our duties as elected representatives we must work for a
common objective, and part of that objective is a better
understanding of our fellow Canadians and the problems that
are unique to the respective regions.”

Ralph Ferguson – who is the father of the current Brooke-Alvinston Mayor, Dave Ferguson – was just two weeks away from his 91st birthday.