Todd Lewis, former APAS president, named to Canadian Senate

The Canadian Senate will gain a new member this spring with a little soil on his boots.

Todd Lewis was recently announced as one of three new appointments to the upper house. He’s a well-known figure in Saskatchewan, between his involvement in the local community, his long presidency of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), and his role in the leadership of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

“It’s a great honour, of course, and very unexpected and I’m really looking forward to the opportunity,” said Lewis.

He said he put in an application a couple of years ago when there was a call for them and he only recently got a call to ask if he was still interested. He said it moved quickly from there.

Lewis hopes as an active farmer among other things, he can bring a different perspective to the chamber.

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“The lack of representation, especially from Western Canadian farmers and agriculture — there’s really nobody in the senate that has that kind of background,” he said, explaining he’d like to see what bringing that to the Senate can do.

Lewis said he’s been interested in the larger role the Senate has been playing recently and in the non-partisan nature of the Senate.

The only downside he mentioned was having to take a step back from the farm and away from Saskatchewan.

“I kind of like the life I have, but this is a good challenge and it’ll be interesting to see where it takes me,” he said.

Lewis is no stranger to politics — he’s been part of presentations and meetings with Senate and Parliamentary committees in his advocacy capacity.

“I think now, being on the other side of the table — the government side, the parliamentary side — will be, certainly, a different take and hopefully be able to influence the people there for what’s best for not only grain producers and agricultural producers in Saskatchewan, Western Canada, but for anybody in Saskatchewan too,” he said.

Lewis was already in Ottawa this week — he had a tour of the building, went through security and signed some papers.

He won’t actually be sworn into his senate seat until parliament sits again. It’s set for late March but there’s a bit of uncertainty in Ottawa right now.

“It’s a very interesting time to be involved in this especially domestically and internationally with all the tariff stuff that’s going on,” said Lewis.

He called it a very humbling experience to get the appointment and thanked all those who’ve supported him over the years.