When the Ontario Provincial Parliament resumes on April 14, Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford will no longer hold the position of Minister of Northern Development, a position which he’d held since 2022 prior to Premier Doug Ford naming his most recent cabinet.
Rickford will maintain the portfolio of Minister of Indigenous Affairs and First Nations Economic Reconciliation, which he held before the election, but he adds Minister Responsible for Ring of Fire Economic and Community Partnerships to his list of responsibilities.
Rickford was re-elected in a landslide in the 2025 provincial election with 10,541 votes. The next closest was NDP candidate Rudy Turtle who received 3,308 votes, followed by Anthony Leek who received 3,072 votes for the Liberal party to round out the three major parties.
On a call with the Times last week, Rickford said he was very honoured to be re-elected.
“A couple of words come to mind,” he said.
“Humbling and awesome. I don’t know how else to explain it. I’ve worked hard and I have an extraordinary team around me and we feel very strongly about on the ground, in-community representation. I think that’s manifested itself in a lot of big ticket, and smaller but just as meaningful contributions by various provincial funding sources to local communities, municipalities and First Nations and that’s first and foremost what my responsibility is as an MPP and that’s what we’ll continue to deliver.”
Rickford recounted the work he’s done since 2022 in revamping the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation which will now fall under the purview of MPP George Pirie who represents the Timmins riding. Pirie was previously the Minister of Mines, his new portfolio is Minister of Northern Economic Development and Growth.
“As the Minister (of Northern Development) for seven years, we modernised the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to ensure that it really met the needs of communities across the entire province,” Rickford said.
“When I first took it on, it was structurally and persistently generously funding cities in particular, and businesses that were in a really good position to access NOHFC, and when we modernised that, it was one of the largest consultations I’ve been a part of to change that. So the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund now has is being accessed by way more businesses, particularly small businesses, across Northern Ontario, rather than typically in some of the concentrated areas that had a greater means to apply. And the proof is in the pudding, the distribution of NOHFC funds has been across the north more evenly and so that’s a huge accomplishment.”
Rickford says he expects Pirie to continue to operate the NOHFC with the same excellence that he has over the last number of years.
“I had always run the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund through an extraordinary board that fairly reflects, certainly more fairly than it did historically, business and good volunteers and municipal leaders, people who are involved in tourism, comprising the board, but also in close contact with my Northern Ontario colleagues, specifically the ones that were in my caucus,” Rickford said.
“Honestly, I regularly spoke to a number of members in opposition to ensure that every riding was getting the representation and access to the fund that they needed. So that’s not going to change, that will not compromise in any way, shape, or form. I’ve been speaking with Minister George Pirie, he intends to run it much the same way. So after seven years, I’ve got a lot of experience on how NOHFC works and I’m looking forward to being able to spend more time making sure that businesses and communities in my riding are fairly represented at NOHFC. I’m not concerned about that at all.”
Rickford also assured constituents that he would still be very present in the riding, advising that as MPP for Kenora-Rainy River he will still be in the District to make NOHFC funding announcements as necessary.
“When Greg Rickford makes NOHFC announcements in his riding it’s in his capacity as MPP,” he said.
“When I was in charge of the NOHFC I made sure that my caucus colleagues had everything they needed to make their own announcements in their own ridings for NOHFC. I will continue to support the Ministry in making NOHFC announcements in ridings the Progressive Conservative Party doesn’t hold if I happen to be in that riding for various reasons. We all share in the responsibility of getting out the good news that the Heritage Fund and other programs do.”
Rickford again thanked the Kenora-Rainy River constituents for their confidence in re-electing him.
“I serve the constituents of Kenora-Rainy River, first and foremost,” Rickford said.
“They decide who that person will be, and their confidence in me reminds me how humbling this is, and what an extraordinary opportunity I’ve had as a result of their support, and it will continue to be my primary focus. Greg Rickford has built his reputation on being a ‘riding MPP,’ it’s a term that describes somebody who has always put the interests of his constituents first and foremost in how I do my work and why I do my work. And that will continue, and I just want to thank the people of Kenora-Rainy River for that.”
Rickford closed the call with the Times saying that he has plans to be in Fort Frances in the not-to-distant future with an “exciting announcement.”
