Fourth Manitoba Tory decides to hang up his hat

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This article was published 03/10/2022 (770 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba government backbencher Ralph Eichler will not seek re-election after nearly 20 years representing the Lakeside constituency.

The former cabinet minister informed his colleagues in the legislature about his decision Tuesday while debating a resolution on fertilizer.

“As you go through life, you look at what you’ve accomplished and what you haven’t accomplished and you try and find that balance between family and friends and serving the general public,” Eichler told reporters following question period.

“I feel I’ve done a pretty good job. I didn’t get everything accomplished that I wanted to, but I feel very comfortable that now is the time for me to step back and let someone else have a run at Lakeside.”

Eichler, 72, was first elected in 2003. Former premier Brian Pallister appointed Eichler agriculture minister after the Tories formed government in 2016. He held the portfolio for three years.

Eichler was put in charge of economic development and training from October 2019 to July 2021.

He was re-appointed agriculture minister in July 2021 and remained in cabinet until January 2022, when Premier Heather Stefanson appointed her first cabinet.

While Eichler plans to leave politics after the next election — due by Oct. 3, 2023 — he said retirement is not in the cards. He intends to visit his vacation home which has been a rental property for the past four years, and cross off items on his bucket list.

But after the official cooling-off period is complete, Eichler said a number of companies are in the queue with consulting opportunities.

“I have no intentions of ever retiring,” Eichler said. “I grew up very poor, I knew what it was like to have to go out and fight to make a living and provide for your family. I’ve got no intentions of walking away and not being involved in our governments.

“Whether we form government or not next time, we still all love and live in Manitoba and we want to make sure we have those opportunities for Manitobans to be able to capitalize on.”

Highlights of his time in cabinet include the $460-million expansion of the Simplot potato processing plant and the new Roquette pea processing plant in Portage la Prairie, and the subsequent competition for labour and contracts, Eichler said.

“When I got into politics, I wanted to make sure my kids had a job and other Manitobans so they could stay right here at home, and I would say ‘mission accomplished.’”

Eichler is the fourth Tory MLA to confirm they will not run again.

Former finance minister Scott Fielding resigned in June, sparking a byelection that is due by Dec. 13. Municipal Relations Minister Eileen Clarke shared her plans to retire in late August while Midland MLA Blaine Pedersen announced last year that he won’t run again.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca