Elvin Penner is a

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served in the House of Representatives from 2008 to 2015 representing the

Cayo North East Cayo North East is an electoral constituency in the Cayo District represented in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belize since 2015 by Orlando Habet of the People's United Party. Profile Cayo North East includes the nort ...

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

. He is a member of the United Democratic Party. Penner was the first Belizean Mennonite elected to national office."A flashback at the political life of Elvin Penner"
, Great Belize Television, 10 October 2013. (accessed 4 December 2014) Penner was initially appointed as

Minister Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

of Natural Resources and the Environment in 2008. Following a cabinet reshuffling in March 2009, Penner transitioned to the Ministry of

Public Utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

, Information and

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...

. After being re-elected in 2012, Penner was appointed Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security (with responsibility for immigration and border protection).

Passport scandal

On 19 September 2013, Penner was stripped of his ministerial portfolios by Prime Minister

Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...

due to his involvement in allegedly selling and issuing a fraudulent

Belizean passport Belizean passports are issued to Belizean citizens to travel outside Belize. The passport is a Caricom passport as Belize is a member of the Caribbean Community. Appearance and issuance The issuance of passports is governed by the Passports Act ( ...

to South Korean national Kim Won Hong, who at the time was jailed in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. Penner was charged with illegally facilitating a passport in March 2014, but charges were dropped in July due to lack of evidence."Charges against Elvin Penner dismissed due to lack of evidence"
''

The San Pedro Sun ''The San Pedro Sun'' is a newspaper published continuously since 1991 and serves the community of San Pedro Town located on Ambergris Caye in Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern c ...

'', 30 July 2014. (accessed 4 December 2014) After the scandal Penner was shunned in the Belize House and reportedly did not carry out any official government duties. He resisted calls to resign from both the Belize House and the UDP by Barrow and others."Elvin Penner says he will not resign"
Great Belize Television, 5 November 2013. (accessed 4 December 2014)Ramos, Adele
"Bombshell: Mahmud resigns!"
'' Amandala'', 25 November 2014. (accessed 4 December 2014) In 2013 Penner was the subject of a

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...

petition in his constituency. However the petition was declared invalid in January 2014.Trujillo, Renee
"Elvin Penner Stays As Area Representative; Recall Mechanism Fails"
, LOVE FM, 8 January 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014."Penner Recall Petition Faces Further Delay"
Great Belize Television, 3 November 2014. (accessed 4 December 2014) In June 2014 Penner was deselected as the UDP's candidate in Cayo North East in the 2015 general election in favour of former

San Ignacio San Ignacio (the Spanish language name of St. Ignatius (disambiguation), St. Ignatius) is a common toponym in parts of the world where that language is or was spoken: Argentina * San Ignacio, Argentina, Misiones Province * San Ignacio Miní, a ...

Mayor John August.Jones, Patrick E
"New standard bearer for the UDP in Cayo Northeast"
Breaking Belize News, 8 June 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014. At that election August was defeated by the People's United Party candidate, Orlando Habet.

Personal

Penner is of

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 ...

ancestry."Penner: Belizean not Bel-Can"
Tropical Vision Limited, 31 July 2009. (accessed 4 December 2014) He has three children, one daughter and two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Penner, Elvin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Cayo District Belizean people of Canadian descent Belizean Mennonites United Democratic Party (Belize) politicians Government ministers of Belize Members of the Belize House of Representatives for Cayo North East