Steinbach city councillor seeks PC nomination
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A longtime Steinbach city councillor says he’ll seek the Progressive Conservative nomination for the constituency, following the announcement of the pending retirement of MLA Kelvin Goertzen.
Michael Zwaagstra, a local teacher, councillor and deputy mayor of Steinbach, said the time was right.
“This has obviously been an area of interest for me for some time” he said, noting he was involved in Goertzen’s campaigns from his first in 2003.
GREG VANDERMEULEN / CARILLON ARCHIVES
Steinbach councillor Michael Zwaagstra (right) serves cake alongside Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen during Pioneer Days. Zwaagstra is seeking the Tory nomination for Steinbach in the wake of Goertzen’s retirement.
“I thought it was an opportunity to apply some of my skills to another level of government and I think it’s important that the Steinbach constituency has strong representation.”
Zwaagstra has worked for Hanover School Division since 2000 and is currently vice-principal of Green Valley School in Grunthal.
First elected to Steinbach city council in 2006, he is currently on his fifth term. He also serves as vice-chair of the Steinbach Bible College board of directors and is board chair of Life Culture.
He said the region has had very strong representation from Kelvin Goertzen for over 20 years, saying Goertzen has passion for the constituency and has worked hard to ensure it receives its fair share from the province.
Examples include the Bethesda Regional Health Centre expansion, intersection upgrades and the Southeast Event Centre.
“Kelvin played a key role in advocating for those, and I certainly would want to push for Steinbach to get that sort of support as well,” he said.
Zwaagstra said he would continue to stand up for the constituency’s values.
“We are a can-do kind of community,” he said. “We value business and we value having fewer regulations rather than more regulations because we know that the best initiatives tend to come from the private sector as opposed to government.”
A Probe Research poll conducted in December shows the PC party receiving about 32 per cent of support in the province. That’s remained relatively consistent throughout 2025.
Zwaagstra gave credit to PC Leader Obby Khan for beginning that process and also involving other voices including his opposition in the leadership race, Wally Daudrich.
“We need to be a party that brings people together, that puts forward a positive vision and some things we clearly stand for,” he said.
Zwaagstra has been endorsed by Provencher MP Ted Falk and former Landmark senator Don Plett.
No date for the nomination meeting has been set.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
History
Updated on Thursday, January 8, 2026 4:55 PM CST: fixes formatting