Funeral services were held Sunday at Brussels, Ont. for a southern Ontario farmer-turned-parliamentarian who helped handle the federal agriculture portfolio during the Mulroney era.
Murray Cardiff, the MP for the Huron-Bruce riding from 1980 to 1993, died Thursday in hospital at Listowel, Ont. at age 79.
Cardiff was born on the family farm at Grey Township and entered federal politics in 1980, serving as a member of the Commons standing committee on agriculture (1980-88, 1991-93).
As a member of Brian Mulroney’s Tory government, he served as parliamentary secretary to the minister of agriculture, under ministers Don Mazankowski and Bill McKnight, from April 1989 to June 1993.
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Later, as a member of Kim Campbell’s short-lived government, he served again as parliamentary secretary for agriculture under then-ag minister Charlie Mayer during the second half of 1993.
When Jean Chretien’s Liberals swept the Tories out of office in late 1993, Cardiff was defeated in Huron-Bruce by another local farmer, the Liberals’ Paul Steckle.
In his obituary Friday, Cardiff’s family said donations in his memory could be made to the Brussels Optimist Club (No. 46023, Zone 2), of which he was a charter member, or to Brussels’ Melville Presbyterian Church, where his funeral service was held.
