Goertzen says his time as Premier is something he will forever cherish

The former leader of our province says it is a highlight he will forever remember, but Kelvin Goertzen says he is also thrilled to pass on the baton to Manitoba's first-ever female Premier.

On August 31, 2021, the Manitoba PC Caucus named Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen as the 23rd Premier of the province. On Tuesday of this week, Heather Stefanson officially took over that role, after winning a leadership vote over the weekend.

Goertzen says having that opportunity is not something he would ever have imagined while growing up. The Steinbach resident lost his father at the age of 11. Goertzen's mother then raised him and his sister as a single mother, living in government housing in Steinbach.

"I could never have imagined that I'd have that opportunity to be in the Premier's chair," he says. "It was just such an honour to do that and to do that as the first MLA for Steinbach. It was a short time, I'll be a footnote in history, but it will always be a highlight for my family and I."

Goertzen refers to the Premier's office as historic, noting every Premier that Manitoba has had since 1920 has occupied that space. He says while sitting behind that desk one day, he noticed a staff phone list from 1996 that was lying on one of the slide-out panels. Goertzen says that the list included his number. He says 1996 was the year he started as a Legislative intern. Now, 25 years later, he had climbed to the top rung of the ladder.

"It was really neat for me to kind of look at that list and see where I started as a Legislative intern and then being able to sit in the Premier's chair which is only about one foot away," he says. "The Premier's chair is one foot away from where that list is, but really it's about one thousand miles in terms of trying to get there."

When Goertzen assumed the position of Premier back in August, he says he really had two main goals. He wanted to bring down the temperature of a lot of things happening in government and a lot of things happening in society, with respect to the pandemic. He says the second goal was to have as many meetings and connections with people as he possibly could. By the time he left the Premier's office, he had held about 120 such meetings, stretching from as far south as the Peace Gardens to as far north as Churchill.

Goertzen says there were a number of very memorable moments in those two months. As a massive fan of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he says it was an honour to invest the 2019 Bombers into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt. He says another event that was important was attending the ceremony at the Peace Gardens for the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City.

Goertzen adds it was also special to head to Churchill to host foreign dignitaries from the United States, Iceland, India and the United Kingdom. On a lighter side, Goertzen says he had some fun on Halloween night by shooting the bat signal on the Legislature.

As mentioned, his role as Premier ended on Tuesday afternoon when Heather Stefanson was sworn in as Manitoba's 24th Premier.

"That's a really neat thing," says Goertzen. "It is both amazing that it is happening, but it's also kind of sad that it's taken this long."

Goertzen says for more than 150 years, there was a glass ceiling when it came to women leading this province. But, he says that got shattered on Tuesday and he thinks it will have a powerful impact.

"It will be important I think for young women to be able to see Heather in this role as the Premier and to see themselves potentially in that position or other positions like it in the future," he says. "So it is really momentous and really exciting."

The Steinbach MLA says in Stefanson, Manitoba is getting a Premier that is compassionate intelligent and very strong in terms of decision making. Goertzen says he believes she is the right person at the right time for this role and he is excited to see his long-time friend become Manitoba's first female Premier.

As for what is next for Goertzen, he says he's has learned in life not to make predictions too far in advance. For example, Goertzen says three months ago he would never have expected to be Premier. Having said that, Goertzen guesses he will likely return to the role he held prior to taking on the position of Premier. Goertzen says he anticipates that at some point down the road, Stefanson will look at the composition of her cabinet and make some decisions.

"(I'm) really glad to serve and to help the transition, make it as smooth as possible and then we'll find out what plans they might have for me in the future," he says.