Dave Van Kesteren was elected as the Member of Parliament for Chatham-Kent-Essex in January 2006 as a Conservative Government Member of Parliament, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. His election to office in 2006 marked the first time in over ten years that Chatham-Kent-Essex had elected a Conservative Member of Parliament.

Prior to becoming the Member of Parliament for Chatham-Kent-Essex, Dave worked in the auto industry. In 1985, Dave opened his first auto body shop, later running his own used car business and then becoming a Hyundai dealer in 1996. 

Born in Chatham to Dutch parents who immigrated to Canada in the early 1950`s, he is the fifth child of ten children. Strong proponents of family values, Dave and his wife, Faye, have celebrated 34 years of marriage and have eight adult children, and have been blessed with many grandchildren.

In the 39th Parliament, as the newly elected Member of Parliament, for Chatham-Kent-Essex he was a Member of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, and the Subcommittee on Oil and Gas and other Energy Prices. Currently in the 40th Parliament he is a Member of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, and has completed his first chairmanship of the Sub-Committee on Canadian Industrial Sectors.

He is an active member on numerous Parliamentary Associations and Interparliamentary Groups. Specifically,  the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Canada-United States Interparliamentary Group, Canada-United Kingdom Interparliamentary Association, Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group, Canada-Israel Interparlimentary Group, Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association,  Canada-China Legislative Association, Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association, and Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group. This does not include the several Friendship groups he is associated with including the Canada-Netherlands Friendship Group he was recently named Chair.

Dave has had several opportunities to travel internationally on behalf of the Government of Canada. He traveled to Taiwan in 2006 with the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association to further Canada’s diplomatic trade relations in the region, to China in 2007 and again to Taiwan in 2008 with other government Members to Celebrate the Presidential Inauguration. He and Faye had the honour of traveling to Israel in July of 2007 with the Canada-Israel Committee. In August 2008 he attended the Southern Governors Association Annual General Meeting in Greenbrier, West Virginia.

Today Dave continues to represent the people of Chatham-Kent-Essex and their interests at the Federal level.  He is very proud of the riding and works hard every day to keep Canada a strong and prosperous nation, not only for our generation but for those generations to come.