Where's Gerry?

Guess which key Conservative cabinet minister was nowhere to be seen when Stephen Harper made a campaign appearance in Saskatoon surrounded by Saskatchewan Tory candidates?

The smiling throng did not include Gerry Ritz, the Conservative agriculture minister who is running in the Saskatchewan riding of Battlefords-Lloydminster.

Harper was forced last week to make excuses for Ritz when it emerged that the minister had made light of the deaths in the tainted meat outbreak.

Asked why Ritz wasn't around to meet his leader, Harper said only that he presumed Ritz is out "on the campaign trail."