Born October 21, 1945, Garry was raised on a farm near Springside, Saskatchewan. He attended a one-room country school near the farm where he grew up. His high school education was completed in Yorkton. He has six years of post-secondary education, including a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

Garry taught for twenty-four years, including three years teaching math and chemistry at a college in Cameroon, West Africa; two years as principal on an Indian Reserve in northern Saskatchewan; and eighteen months teaching math and sciences in the Solomon Islands. The remainder of his teaching experience was spent teaching various subjects and grades in and around Yorkton. Seven of those years, Garry also spent farming.

From 1993 to 2006, Garry served as a member of the Official Opposition, and he took on a number of important responsibilities including: Interim Official Opposition Whip and Official Opposition Deputy House Leader. He has been an active member on numerous Standing Committees of the House of Commons including: Agriculture, Justice, Procedure and House Affairs, and Human Resources Development. He was chair of the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security from 2006 to September 2010.  In October 2010, he was elected chair of the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan.  In September 2011, Mr. Breitkreuz was elected vice-chair of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.

Over the last 18 years, Garry has become well known both nationally and internationally for his extensive work and expertise on the federal gun registry file.

First elected to the House of Commons in October 1993, for the federal constituency of Yorkton-Melville in eastern Saskatchewan, Garry has been subsequently re-elected by the citizens of Yorkton-Melville in 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008 & 2011.

Garry is married to Lydia. Together they have four grown children and eleven grandchildren.