Manitoba MLA Kelvin Goertzen says it never ceases to amaze him how high the level of security is in Washington, D.C. Goertzen is there this week to attend a number of meetings. He also attended the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday.

Goertzen says everywhere top government people travel in the U.S. capital, there are motorcades with a large security detail. He adds that it is much different than the political life he enjoys here in Manitoba.

"The security detail that I usually go with is my son. He's only 12 years old but he's pretty protective, so you wouldn't want to mess with him (laughter). But that's the closest I get to a security detail. It is fascinating though. I obviously see some of this in Ottawa, but when you come to Washington and the President is, in many ways, the leader of the free world, and so it is an entirely different sort of level of security."

Goertzen says President Trump was the speaker at the National Prayer Breakfast.

"President Trump talked about the importance of religious freedom around the world and what different nations can do to help protect that."

He describes what Trump was like in person.

"He was very much what you see on TV. He was also personal in some ways, which often doesn't show up on TV. I think that's probably true for all politicians, they'll speak more personally about either their life experiences or the life experiences they have heard from other people. It is always an honour to be able to be able to see those sorts of things, but more importantly to talk about the issues that we are there to talk about."

Goertzen says his other meetings in Washington involved talks with various ambassadors on issues such as religious freedom, as well as efforts to stop human trafficking and sexual exploitation.