 kelvin goertzen (born june 12, 1969) is a politician in manitoba, canada. he is a member of the manitoba legislature. he was first elected in the 2003 provincial election, and was re-elected in the 2007 and 2011 elections. == early life and education == kelvin goertzen was born in winnipeg, manitoba but was raised in steinbach, manitoba. he attended public school in steinbach and graduated high school from the steinbach regional secondary school in june 1987. goertzen's father, henry, died when goertzen was only 11 years old and his mother, anne, raised him and his sister connie alone for a number of years before marrying peter wiens, originally of grunthal, manitoba. wiens, like goertzen's father, was a long distance truck driver with penner international trucking of steinbach. despite coming from a relatively poor financial background, goertzen obtained a bachelor of arts,majoring in economics, a bachelor of commerce and a bachelor of law each from the university of manitoba. while attending robson hall law school at the university of manitoba, goertzen was awarded more than a dozen academic prizes and was the schools top student during his second year of law studies. == community involvement == 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. == 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 2005 federal elections. like toews, goertzen was a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage.
1969_births Canadian_people_of_German_descent Living_people People_from_Steinbach,_Manitoba Politicians_from_Winnipeg Progressive_Conservative_Party_of_Manitoba_MLAs