Representative John Barlow Contact information

John Barlow MP is a Canadian politician, born on October 13, 1971. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Foothills since 2015, representing the Conservative Party. Barlow’s political career began when he contested for the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta in Highwood during the 2012 Alberta general election, but lost to Wildrose leader, Danielle Smith. Prior to joining politics, Barlow worked as a newspaper editor.

In 2014, Barlow was elected to the House of Commons following a by-election and represented Macleod. He was later re-elected in 2015 in the reconfigured version of his old riding, Foothills. He won again following the 2019 election.

During his political career, Barlow has held various positions in the Conservative Party. In 2015, he was appointed Deputy Critic for Employment, Workforce Development, and Labour by newly appointed interim leader of the Conservative Party, Rona Ambrose. He was also elected Vice Chair on the Standing Committee on Natural Resources.

In 2016, Barlow was appointed Interprovincial Trade Critic by Rona Ambrose, where he focused on the campaign, #FreeTheBeer, aimed at building public pressure for the provinces to ratify a free trade deal for Canada, specifically focused on alcohol trade between provinces. He also tabled his private member’s bill C-351, “An Act to amend the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act and the Excise Act, 2001 (importation)”, which sought to allow producers to sell their product directly to consumers anywhere in Canada without permission of a provincial liquor board and allow a person to transport alcohol from one province to another for personal use.

In 2018, newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, Andrew Scheer, appointed Barlow as Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food (Associate). Simultaneously, Barlow also sat on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. Later that year, Scheer appointed Barlow as Shadow Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Labour. He was also elected as the Vice-Chair for the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

In 2019, Scheer appointed Barlow as Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food once again. He was elected Vice Chair of the committee on Agriculture. However, he was replaced in 2020 by Lianne Rood when Erin O’Toole was elected as the new party leader. Barlow served as a member of the standing committee on Health during this time.

In 2021, O’Toole reappointed Barlow as Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Agri-Food, and Food Security for the 44th Parliament. He was again elected as Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture. Barlow retained this role and was reappointed under Pierre Poilievre’s leadership.