Ralph was first elected to Manitoba’s Legislative Assembly in 2003 as the representative of Lakeside. Upon forming government in 2016, Ralph served as the Minister of Agriculture until October of 2019 and then appointed as the Minister of Economic Development and Training for the Province of Manitoba.
Prior to forming government, Ralph was a former purebred cattle producer, the former owner/operator of Prairie Farm and Ranch Supply and currently owns Ray’s Auction Service. Aside from agriculture, Ralph has had many careers in business, finance and education, including serving as administrator in the Interlake School Division. Ralph has been an active volunteer in his community, having served in various roles with many organizations including the Teulon and Area Lions Club, the Stonewall Royal Canadian Legion Branch #52, the Teulon Riding Club, the Interlake Community Foundation Board and the Teulon Golf and Country club. In 2012, Ralph was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for making outstanding and exemplary contributions to his community.
Ralph is goal-oriented and once has has a well-thought out plan he pursues it with gusto. His vision as Minister is to grow the economy by building strong working relationships with stakeholders in business, post-secondary education and newcomer communities.
Since assuming the role of Minister, one of Ralph’s central mandates is to develop and implement sustainable growth strategies to create an estimated 40,000 new jobs in four years and ensure we have a skilled and talented workforce to fill these positions. This will be accomplished through partnerships between industry, employers, post-secondary institutions and training providers, as well as a strategic approach to immigration and international education.
Since 2016, Manitoba has experienced over one and a half billion dollars of expanded value added private investment. As the Minister of Economic Development and Training, Ralph will lead a Team Manitoba approach to build on this progress and attract private sector investment, enhance tourism, boost trade, enable relationships and champion economic development opportunities to grow the economy and move Manitoba forward.
Ralph and his wife, Gail, have two sons, a daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren.