About Ken Friesen
When were you born?
Between 1966 and 1980 (Generation X)
Tell our readers a bit about your professional life. What do you do for a living? If you're an incumbent candidate, what did you do before you entered politics?
I currently work in the IT industry.
What's the highest level of education you've attained?
Bachelor's degree
How long have you lived in the constituency? If you don't currently live there, what led you to run there instead of where you live?
I was born and raised in the Winkler area, and have called Morden home since 2019.
What is the biggest challenge facing your constituency, and how would you address it?
One of the biggest challenges facing the people in the Morden-Winkler area is access to healthcare, finding a family doctor, and recruiting and retaining healthcare professionals.
The NDP will address these issues by reinstating the rural recruitment fund the PC government cancelled, and the doubling it. The NDP will launch the largest healthcare human resource campaign ever, and hire more doctors and nurses.
If elected I will champion the needs of my constituents within my party and the legislature.
If elected, what will be your first priority?
If elected my first priority will be the people in Morden and Winkler. People need access to quality healthcare; and people need life to be affordable. With the PC cuts to services like healthcare and education, our communities are struggling. If elected I will not stop fighting for investments to be made in people.
Who are your role models in politics, and why?
J. S. Woodsworth and Tommy Douglas (the first leaders of the CCF and NDP respectively). Both of these leaders saw and felt the struggles of the working class and championed their causes. They felt the pains of workers and the working class, and then took the necessary actions to move governments into action. They led by example, they held true to their principles, and they helped define what it is to be Canadian.
This is my goal: to move our government to act in the best interests of our communities and all the people in them. Putting people first and investing in our communities.
Tell us something about yourself that voters might find surprising.
I'm an introvert by nature. I tell people that "I don't leave my house to have fun. But when I leave my house, I have fun."
By running in this election I am leaving my safe-place - my home - to ensure that everyone in my community has a safe place to be themselves.
Other candidates in constituency:
Carrie Hiebert (Progressive Conservative)
Mattison Froese (Liberal)