Former federal ag minister Chuck Strahl dies at 67

A memorial service is planned for Aug. 23 in Chilliwack, B.C. for Chuck Strahl, the logger turned politician who served about a year and a half as federal agriculture minister in Stephen Harper’s government, helping carry several of its policy plans through to completion.

Strahl died Tuesday in Chilliwack at age 67, ending “a courageous and exemplary battle with mesothelioma,” his son Mark, the current Conservative MP for Chilliwack, wrote Wednesday in a statement on social media platform X.

Before entering politics, Strahl was a partner in a road construction and logging contracting firm, managing operations throughout the Fraser Valley.

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Strahl had disclosed in 2005 he had inoperable lung cancer, which he’d said may be linked to exposure to asbestos from open brakes on logging equipment. Mesothelioma, a form of cancer, develops in the linings covering organs — most commonly in the lungs, according to the American Lung Association.

Strahl first sat as the Reform MP for Fraser Valley from 1993 to 2000, then as a Canadian Alliance MP from 2000 to 2003, except when suspended from the Alliance caucus as a member of a coalition of disgruntled MPs (2001-02).

Strahl then sat as the Conservative MP for what became Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon from 2003 onward, following the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Alliance parties. From February 2006 to August 2007 he served as Harper’s agriculture minister.

While in the ag portfolio, Strahl oversaw a number of changes to the government’s much-criticized ag income stabilization (CAIS) program, leading to the launch of the AgriStability, AgriInvest, AgriRecovery and AgriInsurance programs in 2007.

As point man on the government’s policies favouring “marketing choice” in Prairie wheat and barley, he spearheaded a 2007 plebiscite on Prairie barley marketing, launched a controversial policy to block the Canadian Wheat Board from spending funds to “advocate for the retention of its monopoly powers” and in late 2006 dismissed the board’s then-CEO Adrian Measner.

Strahl was also the ag minister who in 2007 called for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to draft updates to compositional standards for cheese, leading to regulations which drew legal fire from major cheese processors such as Saputo and Kraft Canada.

Strahl also spearheaded the government’s early moves to remove the kernel visual distinguishability (KVD) system from the crop variety registration process.

Following his stint in the ag file, Strahl was shuffled first to the Indian Affairs ministry (2007-10), then to the transport, infrastructure and communities portfolio in 2010. In 2011 Strahl announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.

Grain Growers of Canada said in 2010 that as ag minister, Strahl had “made a genuine effort to reach out to ordinary farmers and commodity associations to help the formation of government policy.”

Harper in 2011 said Strahl “has tackled each of his roles with passion and enthusiasm, and with tremendous achievement. Throughout his various ministerial positions, Chuck has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Canadians.”

“While he was a very successful politician with many accomplishments during his time in office, he didn’t let his job define who he was,” Mark Strahl wrote in the family’s statement on X. “He never lost sight of what was truly important: his faith, his family and his friends.”

A celebration of life for Chuck Strahl is planned for Friday, Aug. 23 at 1:30 p.m. at Chilliwack Alliance Church at 8700 Young Rd. At the family’s request, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Chilliwack Alliance Church Legacy Fund or to the B.C. Cancer Foundation.