Harold Albrecht

Harold Glenn Albrecht (born October 15, 1949 in Kitchener, Ontario) is a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Kitchener—Conestoga. He defeated the incumbent Liberal MP, Lynn Myers, by just over 1000 votes in the 2006 federal election to gain a seat in the Canadian House of Commons.

Albrecht grew up in the riding in which he was elected and was educated in Waterloo Region at Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School, and then at Waterloo Lutheran University (which is now Wilfrid Laurier University). He owned a private dental practice in Kitchener for twenty-seven years and was also a trustee on the Waterloo County Board of Education from 1978 to 1982, as well as being the Chair of the Board from 1981 to 1982. In his dentistry career, he also went on many short-term Christian missions trips to Third World countries.

In 1999, Albrecht left his dentistry practice to pastor Pathway Community Church in the Doon area of Kitchener. The church started meeting in November of that year, with a small congregation of around 70 people. It also became the third Brethren in Christ church in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Albrecht pastored the church until 2005, when he announced a leave of absence to seek the Conservative Party nomination in his riding. When he won the nomination, he permanently resigned his leadership position from the Church.

In Ottawa, Albrecht is the founder and chair of the BioCaucus, a group of MPs who work to promote the production of agricultural and renewable technologies. He sits on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development committee and the Government Operations and Estimates committee.

Albrecht favours reforming Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act. In particular, he would like to see stiffer sentences for young offenders who commit violent crimes. His interest was sparked by the Justice for Dustin Campaign-an endeavour by the family of a murdered Kitchener teen to see stricter sentences for violent young offenders.

Albrecht owns a hobby farm in between Petersburg and New Dundee, and he and his wife Betty have been married for over thirty-five years. They have three children and seven grandchildren.