The former federal minister of state for science and technology has been sworn in as Minister of Natural Resources, replacing Joe Oliver, who has been named finance minister.
Greg Rickford, MP for Kenora in northern Ontario and the minister responsible for the Ring of Fire mining development, was first elected to the House of Commons in 2008 and was appointed to the cabinet in July 2013.
Prior to entering politics, Rickford earned a nursing diploma from Mohawk College and a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of Victoria. He also has an MBA from Université Laval and both civil and common law degrees from McGill University.
Rickford was appointed parliamentary secretary for official languages in 2010 and the following year was named parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. In May 2011, he was given the additional responsibility of parliamentary secretary for the federal economic development initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor).
