Arnold Viersen (born May 3, 1986) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who was elected to represent the riding of

Peace River—Westlock Peace River—Westlock is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. Peace River—Westlock was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and w ...

in the

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election held on October 19, 2015, saw the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, win 184 seats, allowing it to form a majority government with Trudeau becoming the next prime minister. The election was held to elect m ...

Background

Viersen attended

Covenant Canadian Reformed School Covenant Canadian Reformed School is a K-12 private Christian school in Neerlandia, Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alb ...

Neerlandia Neerlandia is a hamlet in central Alberta, Canada within the County of Barrhead No. 11. Neerlandia is situated at the intersection of Highway 769 and Township Road 615A between Mellowdale and Vega, approximately 20 kilometers north of Barrhead ...

from Grade 1 through Grade 12, and currently resides near his childhood home on an acreage in

Westlock County Westlock County is a municipal district in central Alberta, Canada that is north of Edmonton. The county was formerly known as the Municipal District of Westlock No. 92, and was created in 1943 from the merger of five smaller municipal district ...

. Before entering politics, Viersen worked as a journeyman auto mechanic. He identifies as a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

Career

In the

42nd Canadian Parliament The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octob ...

, Viersen served on the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee, and was named the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

'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. 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." The Health Committee's ensuing study was the first Government of Canada study into the public health effects of pornography since 1985. On February 4, 2020, during a debate on safety in sex work, Viersen asked

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

Laurel Collins Laurel Collins (born May 7, 1984) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Victoria in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Prior to her election in the House of Commons, she was a cit ...

if she had ever considered sex work. Collins was criticizing Bill 36 changes enacted by former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

government that Collins suggested put sex workers at risk. Viersen's question sparked immediate heckling and a shout of "shame on you" from other members of Parliament. Viersen apologized following the reaction, both in the House and on Twitter. In June 2022, after the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

decision in ''

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both ''R ...

'' overturned abortion rights from ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

'', Viersen celebrated the ruling on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

, calling abortion in Canada the "greatest human rights tragedy of our time."

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viersen, Arnold 1986 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta Mechanics (people) Conservative Party of Canada MPs People from Barrhead, Alberta 21st-century Canadian politicians