Former deputy agriculture minister Harvey Brooks is returning to Saskatchewan to lead the producer-funded commission
The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission has a new general manager.
Harvey Brooks, former deputy agriculture minister with the government of Saskatchewan, will take over as the commission’s top manager, effective July 7.
Brooks, originally from Rosthern, Sask., has extensive experience in agriculture and the public service.
As a civil servant, his resume includes terms as deputy minister of rural revitalization, deputy minister of transportation, deputy minister of government relations and deputy minister of agriculture, all under Sask-atchewan’s former NDP government led by Lorne Calvert.
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Brooks was named Saskatchewan’s deputy agriculture minister in 2006 under then minister Mark Wartman but was relieved of his duties in late 2007 after Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party took office.
Since then, Brooks has held posts as deputy minister of economic development with the Yukon government and more recently, deputy minister of community services, also in the Yukon.
Outside the civil service, he has served as vice-president of member relations and director of policy and economic research with the Sask-atchewan Wheat Pool and head of the corporate policy at the Canadian Wheat Board.
Brooks was also the inaugural co-operative chair in agricultural marketing and business at the University of Alberta.
He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Ph.D. in economics from Iowa State University.
Brooks said the opportunity to work with the SWDC is a perfect fit.
He has family ties in Saskatchewan and extensive professional connections through his time in government and the grain industry.
“I saw this as a fantastic opportunity to meld both my personal and professional interests,” said Brooks, who grew up on a mixed farming operation near Rosthern.
“There are plenty of partnerships to (develop) … and the challenge will be trying to maximize those partnership opportunities while maintaining the unique focus that will come from a producer-funded commission….”
Brooks replaces outgoing SWDC general manger Tom Steve, who is now with the Alberta Wheat Commission.
