Michael Shawn Kerzner is a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician who was in June 2022 was named Solicitor General of Ontario. He was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

in the 2022 provincial election. He represents the riding of York Centre as a member of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

Biography

Kerzner is Jewish. His parents are Max and Dolly Kerzner. His father was a chartered accountant. His father's parents, Sam and Sarah Kerzner, emigrated to Canada in 1930 from

Stopnica Stopnica is a town in Busko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Stopnica. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately east of Busko-Zdrój and south-east o ...

, Poland. Everyone in his grandfather's family was killed during

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. His maternal grandfather, Murray Penwick, was born in Toronto where he opened a pharmacy. His maternal grandmother, Tilly Penwick, is from England, and emigrated to Canada in her youth. Kerzner attended

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, graduating with a B.A. (Hons.) in 1986. After university he worked in the construction business, building commercial buildings, and then in 2015 started doing

genetic testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

at DNALabs Canada. He is a

bioscience ''BioScience'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the ''AIBS Bulletin'' (1951–1 ...

and technology entrepreneur. He lives in York Centre. Kerzner succeeded to the seat of independent MPP

Roman Baber Roman Baber (born August 9, 1980) is a Canadian politician who has represented the riding of York Centre in the House of Commons of Canada since 2025 as a member of the Conservative Party. Baber was the member of Provincial Parliament (M ...

. Baber had been elected as a Progressive Conservative but was expelled from the PC caucus on January 15, 2021, for his

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

lockdown stances. It was expected that Baber would run against Kerzner in the general election, but Baber instead opted to run in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race. On June 24, 2022, Kerzner was named Solicitor General of Ontario by Premier Doug Ford.

Electoral history

References

External links

Twitter page"Q&A with Solicitor General Michael Kerzner,"
''The Dispatch''. Living people Canadian people of English-Jewish descent Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish Canadian politicians People from North York Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Politicians from Toronto Solicitors general of Canadian provinces York University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario {{ProgressiveConservative-Ontario-MPP-stub