WINNIPEG – Jack Murta has been known as a farmer, a politician, a cabinet minister and a commissioner at the Canadian Grain Commission. He’s also a marathon runner.
And now, Murta has decided to sprint into the private sector. On Sept. 15, he will leave the CGC where he had about one year remaining in his seven-year term.
Murta, 52, will become senior vice-president in charge of the diverse operations of Canadian Agra, a multinational company based in Kincardine, Ont. that recently announced plans to build a food processing complex in Ste. Agathe, Man.
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He was approached by a “headhunter” firm earlier this year and asked to consider the position.
Murta said he had already accomplished many of the goals set when he joined the CGC in 1989; he feels he has helped the commission run more like a business.
“I was looking for a challenge in the private sector, being able to take a lot of expertise and leadership and people management that I’ve acquired over the years,” Murta said.
In his position, he’ll be involved in and responsible for many parts of the company, including:
- 15,000 acres of crops.
- A vineyard on Pelee Island, Ont.
- A vegetable growing and processing operation.
- A farm consulting franchise.
- An alfalfa-dehydration plant.
- An apple juice plant.
- A small ethanol plant.
“There’s so many different parts to it that you’d never get bored,” said Murta.
Before he joined the Canadian Grain Commission, he was a member of Parliament for 18 years. He owns a farm near Carman, Man.
Murta started running mara-thons when he was in politics as a way to “lose weight and keep my sanity … it’s just become a lifestyle.
“You can come away so frustrated with everything and the weight of the world is on your shoulders, and after a 45-minute run or so, the worries just kind of melt and you deal with them the next day.”
He predicts his new job will keep him running, both at the office and after hours. “The busier I get, the more I’m going to run, I think,” said Murta, who jogs about 80 kilometres a week and will run his 26th marathon in New York City in November.
