Michael Kerzner

Michael Shawn Kerzner MPP is a Canadian politician who was in June 2022 was named Solicitor General of Ontario. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2022 provincial election. He represents the riding of York Centre as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.^[1]

The Honourable Michael Kerzner MPP
Kerzner in 2024
Solicitor General of Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office June 24, 2022
Premier	Doug Ford
Preceded by	Sylvia Jones
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for York Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2, 2022
Preceded by	Roman Baber
Personal details
Born	Michael Shawn Kerzner
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse	Rochelle Kerzner
Residence(s)	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Education	York University
Profession	Politician, Businessman

Biography

Kerzner is Jewish.^[2] His parents are Max and Dolly Kerzner.^[2] His father was a chartered accountant.^[2] His father's parents, Sam and Sarah Kerzner, emigrated to Canada in 1930 from Stopnica, Poland.^[2] Everyone in his grandfather's family was killed during the Holocaust.^[2] His maternal grandfather, Murray Penwick, was born in Toronto where he opened a pharmacy.^[2] His maternal grandmother, Tilly Penwick, is from England, and emigrated to Canada in her youth.^[2]

Kerzner attended York University, graduating with a B.A. (Hons.) in 1986.^[2] After university he worked in the construction business, building commercial buildings, and then in 2015 started doing genetic testing at DNALabs Canada.^[2] He is a bioscience and technology entrepreneur.^[3] He lives in York Centre.^[4]

Kerzner succeeded to the seat of independent MPP Roman Baber. Baber had been elected as a Progressive Conservative but was expelled from the PC caucus on January 15, 2021, for his COVID-19 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.^[5][6]

On June 24, 2022, Kerzner was named Solicitor General of Ontario by Premier Doug Ford.^[7]

Electoral history

2025 Ontario general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Kerzner	16,416	54.06	+8.03
	Liberal	Sam Nestico	10,823	35.64	+3.70
	New Democratic	Natalie Van Halteren	1,700	5.60	–8.39
	Green	Courtney Martin	658	2.17	–0.67
	New Blue	Johnny Blythe	309	1.02	–0.44
	Special Needs	Lionel Poizner	212	0.70	+0.26
	Populist	Jeffrey Anisman	140	0.46	N/A
	Moderate	Parviz Isgandadrov	111	0.37	+0.09
Total valid votes			30,369	98.88	+0.07
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			345	1.12	–0.07
Turnout			30,714	39.67	+0.73
Eligible voters			76,546
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+2.17
Source: Elections Ontario[8][9]

v t e 2022 Ontario general election: York Centre
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Kerzner	12,947	46.03	−4.12	$79,866
	Liberal	Shelley Brown	8,984	31.94	+10.54	$74,566
	New Democratic	Frank Chu	3,935	13.99	−9.45	$16,511
	Green	Alison Lowney	799	2.84	+0.55	$0
	Ontario Party	Nick Balaskas	679	2.41		$988
	New Blue	Don Pincivero	411	1.46		$0
	None of the Above	Mark Dewdney	169	0.60	−0.67	$0
	Special Needs	Lionel Wayne Poizner	124	0.44		$0
	Moderate	Parviz Isgandarov	80	0.28	−0.09	$780
Total valid votes/expense limit			28,128	98.81	+0.30	$102,341
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			339	1.19	-0.30
Turnout			28,467	38.94	-13.98
Eligible voters			72,576
	Progressive Conservative gain from Independent		Swing		−7.33
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023.