Arnold Viersen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament forPeace River—Westlock | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Riding Created |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1986-05-03)May 3, 1986 (age 38) Barrhead,Alberta, Canada |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 |
| Residence(s) | Barrhead,Alberta |
| Profession | Mechanic |
Arnold ViersenMP (born May 3, 1986) is a CanadianConservative politician who was elected to represent theriding ofPeace River—Westlock in the2015 Canadian federal election.[1][2] He identifies as asocial conservative.[3]
Viersen attendedCovenant Canadian Reformed School inNeerlandia from Grade 1 through Grade 12, and currently resides near his childhood home on an acreage inWestlock County. Before entering politics, Viersen worked as a journeyman auto mechanic.[4]
In the42nd Canadian Parliament, Viersen served on theIndigenous and Northern Affairs Committee, and was named theOfficial Opposition's Deputy Critic of Rural Affairs. On December 8, 2016, Viersen's Private Member's Motion (M-47) received unanimous consent in the House of Commons.[5] The official text of this motion reads:"That the Standing Committee on Health be instructed to examine the public health effects of the ease of access and viewing of online violent and degrading sexually explicit material on children, women and men, recognizing and respecting the provincial and territorial jurisdictions in this regard, and that the said Committee report its findings to the House no later than July 2017."[6] The Health Committee's ensuing study was the first Government of Canada study into the public health effects of pornography since 1985.[7]
In June 2022, after theSupreme Court of the United States decision inDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturnedabortion rights fromRoe v. Wade, Viersen celebrated the ruling onFacebook, calling abortion in Canada the "greatest human rights tragedy of our time."[8] On May 6, 2024, Viersen put forward a petition calling for the government to restrict abortion.[9]
In a June 2024 interview on Liberal MPNathaniel Erskine-Smith's podcast, Viersen said that he would vote against abortion,gay marriage, and cannabis legalization. Afterward Viersen, released a statement that those stances were his alone, and party leaderPierre Poilievre said that they were not reflective of the party's stance. In addition, Viersen stated that he felt ambushed by Erskine-Smith's questions in which Erskine-Smith disputed by stating Viersen stances on those issuses are well known.[10]
| 2021 Canadian federal election:Peace River—Westlock | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Arnold Viersen | 29,486 | 63.0 | -17.6 | $57,120.49 | |||
| New Democratic | Gail Ungstad | 6,019 | 12.9 | +5.4 | $10,267.72 | |||
| People's | Darryl Boisson | 5,916 | 12.6 | +9.5 | $3,808.47 | |||
| Maverick | Colin Krieger | 2,573 | 5.5 | — | $8,852.55 | |||
| Liberal | Leslie Penny | 2,431 | 5.2 | -0.9 | $1,390.57 | |||
| Green | Jordan Francis MacDougall | 364 | 0.8 | -1.9 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 46,789 | – | – | $135,210.15 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 198 | 0.42 | -0.25 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,987 | 63.2 | -7.2 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 74,324 | |||||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | -11.5 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[11][12] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election:Peace River—Westlock | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Arnold Viersen | 41,659 | 80.6 | +11.25 | $61,848.92 | |||
| New Democratic | Jennifer Villebrun | 3,886 | 7.5 | -6.89 | none listed | |||
| Liberal | Leslie Penny | 3,148 | 6.1 | -6.74 | $5,946.81 | |||
| People's | John Schrader | 1,579 | 3.1 | - | $4,989.63 | |||
| Green | Peter Nygaard | 1,377 | 2.7 | +0.18 | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 51,649 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 347 | |||||||
| Turnout | 51,996 | 70.4 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 73,809 | |||||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | +9.07 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[13][14] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election:Peace River—Westlock | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Arnold Viersen | 34,342 | 69.35 | -8.46 | $74,852.55 | |||
| New Democratic | Cameron Alexis | 7,127 | 14.39 | +1.35 | $10,844.13 | |||
| Liberal | Chris Brown | 6,360 | 12.84 | +9.20 | $6,504.94 | |||
| Green | Sabrina Lee Levac | 1,247 | 2.52 | -1.34 | – | |||
| Libertarian | Jeremy Sergeew | 443 | 0.89 | – | $108.02 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 49,519 | 100.00 | $259,766.62 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 170 | 0.34 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 49,689 | 65.93 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 75,362 | |||||||
| Conservativehold | Swing | -4.90 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[15][16] | ||||||||