Funeral services will be held Wednesday in Ottawa for Maurice Foster, the Ontario veterinarian who became the federal Liberals’ agriculture critic during the Mulroney administration.
Foster, a Liberal MP from 1968 to 1993, ag critic from 1984 to 1993 and critic for the Canadian Wheat Board from 1987 to 1989, died Saturday in Ottawa at age 77 after a three-year fight with pulmonary fibrosis.
Raised on an Ontario dairy farm, Foster became a DVM in 1957 and went into practice at Carnduff, Sask., later moving to Desbarats, Ont., about 50 km southeast of Sault Ste. Marie.
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He entered federal politics as a Liberal in the northern Ontario riding of Algoma (former Prime Minister Lester Pearson’s riding, 1948-68), first winning in Pierre Trudeau’s sweep of 1968 and holding the seat for the party through six more elections, including the sweep by Brian Mulroney’s Tories in 1984.
Foster sat as a member of the Commons’ standing committee on agriculture (1968-72, 1974, 1984-93) and was its vice-chair (1991-93). He also served in several parliamentary secretary roles and as the Liberals’ deputy whip (1972-73).
After retiring from the Commons in 1993, Foster became an advisor to Prime Minister Jean Chretien and retired from Chretien’s staff in 2001.
According to his obituary, services will be held for Foster on Oct. 6 at the Beechwood Memorial Centre, 280 Beechwood Ave. in Ottawa. Donations in lieu of flowers can be directed to the Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.
