Kelvin GoertzenMLA (born June 12, 1969) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd premier of Manitoba from September to November, 2021. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, he is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Steinbach, first elected in the 2003 provincial election, and was re-elected in 2007, 2011, 2016, 2019 and most recently in 2023.[1] Goertzen served as interim leader of the PC party, from September 1, 2021 to October 30, 2021. He was sworn as premier on September 1, 2021. Goertzen was succeeded as premier on the afternoon of November 2, 2021, by Heather Stefanson who won the PC leadership election on October 30.[2] Goertzen, upon his swearing-in, selected Rochelle Squires as his deputy premier.[3] Goertzen resumed his role as Deputy Premier of Manitoba on November 3, 2021.[4] His final posts in the Stefanson Government were Government House Leader, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and Minister responsible for Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI). He currently serves as the Deputy Leader of the PC Party alongside Kathleen Cook.
Goertzen served for two years as the Vice-President of the Steinbach Arts Council and served as Vice-President of the Southeast Helping Hands Food Bank in Steinbach for seven years. He has been involved as a participant and fundraiser in a number of community related causes including the Mennonite Heritage Village Museum and the Steinbach Association for Community Living. He is a member of the South East Rotary Club.
In June 2007, Goertzen was awarded the "HOPE" medal by the Lions Club Foundation of Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario for his community service work helping those less fortunate in Manitoba [citation needed]. In 2012 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of community service by Governor General of Canada David Johnson.
Political involvement
Goertzen became involved in political activities while attending high school, serving as an early organizer for the Reform Party of Canada. In 1995, Goertzen was hired as an intern at the Manitoba Legislature serving with the Progressive Conservative Caucus. Following the internship, he served in the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship and subsequently worked as an Executive Assistant to MLAs Jim Penner and Albert Driedger. Following the 2000 federal election, Goertzen also worked as an advisor to Provencher Member of Parliament Vic Toews and was a key local organizer for Toews in the 2000, 2004 and 2006 federal elections. In 2003, he participated in a public protest against the legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada.
Prior to seeking elected office himself, Goertzen also served as the President of the Steinbach Progressive Conservative Association, as a Regional Director on the Board of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party and as a member of the Management Committee of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party.
Elected office
One week prior to the calling of the 2003 provincial election, Steinbach MLA Jim Penner announced he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and would not be seeking re-election.[6] After the election was called a short nomination process occurred. Some critics suggested Goertzen's service as local association President gave him an advantage in the short nomination time frame. The sudden events had no impact on the election result, however. Steinbach is one of the Manitoba PCs' safest seats, and Goertzen was elected with over 74% of the popular vote despite the poor showing of PC candidates elsewhere in the province. Goertzen became the youngest MLA ever elected from Steinbach since its creation in 1990, as well as the first Manitoba Legislative Intern to be elected to the Manitoba Legislature.
After his election to the Manitoba Legislature, Goertzen was promoted to the shadow cabinet as Chief Justice Critic and in 2005 was also appointed Deputy House Leader. As Justice Critic, Goertzen called for increased police resources, stronger laws against organized crime, electronic monitoring of sex offenders and a drug treatment court to assist individuals addicted to drugs and alcohol. In 2005-2006, Goertzen held a series of informational meetings across Manitoba about Crystal Meth and lobbied for new legislation to allow parents of drug addicted teenagers to place their children in drug treatment. The NDP government accepted that suggestion and legislation was passed June 13, 2006.
Goertzen was a strong supporter of Opposition Leader Stuart Murray and refused to participate in internal Caucus dissent that ultimately led to the end of Murray's leadership in November 2005.
Goertzen was among the first MLAs to endorse the provincial PC leadership campaign of Hugh McFadyen who eventually won the leadership. McFadyen reappointed Goertzen as Justice Critic after his leadership election and also appointed him the PC House Leader. Goertzen was again nominated the provincial PC candidate for Steinbach on September 8, 2006. On May 22, 2007 Goertzen was re-elected with 83% of the vote, the largest victory in the history of the riding.
In February 2010, Goertzen was named Deputy Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, and hence Deputy Leader of the Opposition. On October 4, 2011, Goertzen was re-elected in Steinbach by another large majority, although the PC's once again lost the election to the NDP. With the resignation of McFayden as party leader after the election, there was some speculation in the local media that Goertzen may be a candidate for the position.
Following the 2011 election and selection of Brian Pallister as leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party, Goertzen was again appointed House Leader and Justice Critic for the PC Caucus. In 2013 he led a filibuster in the Manitoba Legislature to protest the increase of the provincial sales tax (PST) by the NDP government.
In 2013, despite widespread media speculation, he declined to run for the Conservative Party of Canada in the federal riding of Provencher, centered on Steinbach, following the resignation of MP Vic Toews.
Following the Progressive Conservative victory in the 2016 provincial election, newly-elected premier Pallister named Goertzen as a member of the new cabinet, assigning him the office of Health, Seniors and Active Living.[7]
In May 2018, Goertzen was strongly criticized for speaking at an anti-abortion rally in Steinbach, and for constant deferral of questions related to women's reproductive matters, including abortion, to Rochelle Squires, minister of the status of women.[8]
In September 2020, Goertzen made a Facebook post emphasizing the right to refuse vaccination, which received widespread condemnation by the public and which many medical experts considered to be problematic coming from an education minister and previous health minister.[9]
Personal life
Goertzen married his wife Kimberley Hiebert in 1997. They live in Steinbach, Manitoba and have one son.[5]
Goertzen has published several articles related to law and politics including in the Asper Review of International Business and Trade Law (Volume 3- 2003) and Underneath the Golden Boy (Volume 3-2004). In November 2006, he published a book on the life of Jim Penner, his predecessor in the Legislature, entitled A Life Well Lived: The Story of Jim Penner and Penner Foods (National Library of Canada ISBN0-9781405-0-8).
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba, also branded as Manitoba's NDP, is a social democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. It is currently the governing party in Manitoba.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is a centre-right political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is currently the opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, following a defeat in the 2023 provincial election.
Brian William Pallister is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Manitoba from 2016 until 2021. He served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 2012 to 2021. He had been a cabinet minister in the provincial government of Gary Filmon and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 2000 to 2008.
The 1999 Manitoba general election was held on September 21, 1999 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.
Errick French Willis was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as leader of the province's Conservative Party between 1936 and 1954, and was responsible for beginning and ending the party's alliance with the Liberal-Progressive Party. He also served as Manitoba's 15th Lieutenant Governor between 1960 and 1965.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba has had several contested races to determine its leadership. These have all occurred by voting at delegated conventions. The results are listed below.
Steven John Ashton is a British-born Canadian politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a long-serving member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, and was a long-time cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party governments led by premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger. He resigned from cabinet on December 22, 2014 to challenge Selinger for the leadership of the party. Ashton was eliminated from the race, after finishing last on the first ballot at the 2015 NDP leadership convention. Selinger was re-elected party leader on the second ballot. In 2017, Ashton ran for Manitoba NDP leader, losing to Wab Kinew, who became premier in 2023.
Ronald Reinhold Schuler is a Canadian politician. He is currently a member of the Manitoba Legislature and a representative of the Progressive Conservative Party (PCs). He was first elected in the 1999 provincial election. and was re-elected in the 2003, 2007, 2011, 2016, 2019 and 2023 elections.
Heather Dorothy Stefanson is a Canadian former politician who served as the 24th premier of Manitoba from 2021 to 2023; the first woman in the province's history to hold that role.
Eric Stefanson is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the cabinet of Progressive Conservative Premier Gary Filmon from 1991 to 1999, and was a member of the Manitoba Legislature from 1990 to 2000. His father, also named Eric Stefanson, was a Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1958 to 1968.
Albert Driedger was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1977 to 1999, and a cabinet minister in the government of Gary Filmon from 1988 to 1997.
Steinbach is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba that encompasses the city of Steinbach, the riding's namesake, and northeastern part of the Rural Municipality of Hanover.
Hugh Daniel McFadyen is a lawyer and politician in Manitoba, Canada. From 2006 to 2012, he was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, and Leader of the Opposition in the Manitoba legislature.
Wayne Ewasko is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 2011 election.
Rochelle Squires is a former Canadian politician who served as the Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the riding of Riel from 2016 to 2023.
The 2023 Manitoba general election was held on October 3, 2023, to elect 57 members to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. The incumbent Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, led by Premier of Manitoba Heather Stefanson, had attempted to win a third term in government, having previously won the 2016 and 2019 elections under the leadership of Brian Pallister. The New Democratic Party of Manitoba, led by Wab Kinew, formed a majority government, defeating the two-term Progressive Conservative government. Following the election, Kinew became the first First Nations person to become premier of a Canadian province.
The 2021 Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba leadership election was held on October 30, 2021. The internal party election was called as a result of Premier Brian Pallister, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, announcing his resignation on August 10, 2021. As the Progressive Conservative Party had a majority in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, their new leader would automatically become the 24th premier of Manitoba.
The 44th Manitoba general election will be held on or before October 5, 2027 to elect 57 members to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
