Raising the bar for democracy and transparency

Wayne Easter — Malpeque

Wayne was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and was raised on the family farm in North Wiltshire. He attended Charlottetown Rural High School and holds a diploma from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College. He was granted a certificate from the Canadian International Grains Institute in 1973. Wayne received an Honourary Doctorate of Law degree from UPEI in 1988 for his work and contribution to agriculture and social activism on the national and international level. He was awarded the Governor General’s Canada 125 Medal in 1992 for community service.

Wayne entered politics in 1993 when he was officially elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Malpeque, P.E.I. He was re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011.

In Parliament, Wayne has served as Solicitor General of Canada, Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Oceans, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Agri-Food with special responsibilities for the Rural Secretariat, and is currently International Trade Critic.

On the national and international fronts, Wayne was National President and CEO of the National Farmers Union for 11 years, he was advisor to the Trudeau administration for the federal export agency, Canagrex, and was an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture at the FAO Conference in Rome in 1983. He was an invited participant under the European Community’s Visitors Program examining Common Agricultural Policy and International Agricultural Trade Issues in 1987 and toured New Zealand examining the impact of Farm Policy and Free Trade Issues in 1988.

In 1990, Wayne was an advisor and panelist for the Tri-national Exchange on Agriculture, the environment and Free Trade Agreements with Canada, the United States and Mexico.

In 1991, with the Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food, Wayne was an advisor and delegate to GATT discussions in Geneva and Brussels. He also served as panelist to a Congressional briefing on NAFTA in Washington in March 1993.

In Wayne’s role as Parliamentary Secretary to Agriculture and Rural Development, he traveled across Canada conducting round table discussions on the farm income crisis. This resulted in his report, “Empowering Canadian Farmers in the Marketplace”.

Wayne and his wife Helen, a nurse, live in North Wiltshire and have two grown children, Kimberley and Jamie