Raymond Chan (politician)

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| name = Raymond Chan

| native_name = 陳卓愉

| honorific-suffix = PC

| image =

| riding = Richmond

| parliament = Canadian

| term_start = 2004

| term_end = 2008

| predecessor = Joe Peschisolido

| successor = Alice Wong

| term_start2 = 1993

| term_end2 = 2000

| predecessor2 = Tom Siddon

| successor2 = Joe Peschisolido

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|10|25}}

| birth_place = Hong Kong

| death_date =

| death_place =

| party = Liberal

| spouse = divorced and re-married

| residence = Richmond, British Columbia

| profession = Engineer

| footnotes =

| occupation = Politician

}}

Raymond Chan {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} ({{zh|t=陳卓愉|p=Chén Zhuōyú|j=Can4 Ceok3 Jyu4}}; born October 25, 1951) is a Canadian engineer and politician. He is among the first Chinese Canadian to be appointed to the Cabinet of Canada. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Chan was elected to Parliament in the 1993 federal election, defeating then Defence Minister Tom Siddon in the riding of Richmond, British Columbia. Elected in 1993, Chan is the third Chinese Canadian represented in Parliament, after Douglas Jung, who secured a seat in 1957, Art Lee in 1974. In 2008, Chan lost his riding of Richmond to Conservative candidate Alice Wong.

Early life

Raymond Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1951.{{cite news |script-title=zh:加拿大大選中的華裔候選人 |trans-title=Chinese Candidate in the Canadian Election |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/chinese/trad/hi/newsid_1040000/newsid_1043800/1043827.stm |website=BBC Chinese |date=November 27, 2000 |access-date=January 4, 2018 }} He emigrated to Canada in 1969, two years after Canada liberalized its immigration policy. He received a B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1977. From 1977 to 1993, he worked as an engineer for TRIUMF, a particle accelerator laboratory at UBC.{{cite news |script-title=zh:陈卓愉胜出当选列治文选区国会议员 |title=Raymond Chan Wins Another Parliamentary Election |work=加西网 |url=http://www.westca.com/News/catid=351/sid=10441/op=view/sid=10493/lang=schinese.html |publisher=SinoVision [北美中文网] |date=January 23, 2006 |access-date=January 4, 2018 |via=WestCA.com }}{{cite news |url=http://www.sinoquebec.com/portal.php?mod=view&aid=2379 |script-title=zh:加国前多元文化部长：华裔移民不是过客 |website=SinoQuebec.com |date=February 16, 2006 |access-date=January 4, 2018 }}

Political career

Chan joined the Liberal Party of Canada in 1991 after he was elected as the inaugural president of the Vancouver Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movement in China. Then he was elected to Parliament in the 1993 election,{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=517|nolist=yes}} defeating Defence Minister Tom Siddon in the riding of Richmond, British Columbia. Chan secured the nomination win over future cabinet colleague Herb Dhaliwal, who subsequently chose to run in the adjacent Vancouver South riding. He was then appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as the Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific Region for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He served in this position from 1993 to 2000.

He was defeated in the 2000 election by Joe Peschisolido of the Canadian Alliance. After Peschisolido crossed the floor to the Liberal Party, Chan battled Peschisolido for the Liberal Party's nomination, and won it after a fiercely contested race.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/delta-richmond-east-1.944654|title=Delta - Richmond East|website=CBC News|date=September 20, 2010|access-date=November 8, 2017}}

Chan returned to Parliament in the 2004 election. He was subsequently appointed to the cabinet by Prime Minister Paul Martin as the Minister of State (Multiculturalism) for the Department of Heritage.

Chan was re-elected in 2006, and served as Opposition Critic for the Asia Pacific, Seniors, the Social Economy, and Canada Border Security throughout the 39th session of Parliament.

He was defeated by Conservative Alice Wong in the election of 2008{{cite news |url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/harper-has-fresh-timber-for-new-cabinet-1.334291 |title=Harper has fresh timber for new cabinet |date=October 16, 2008 |website=CTV News |agency=The Canadian Press |access-date=November 8, 2017 }} by more than 8,000 votes. He sought nomination as a Richmond Liberal again in 2009 and was defeated by Peschisolido. He has been a major fundraiser for political candidates since leaving office.{{Cite news|last=Cooper|first=Sam|date=October 5, 2020|title=Did Canadian politicians know the victims of a targeted shooting at a trendy Richmond restaurant?|work=Global News|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/7352842/intelligence-experts-crime-networks-canada-shooting-richmond-b-c/|access-date=October 7, 2020}}

Electoral history

References

External links

[http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/member.php?id=62 How'd They Vote?: Raymond Chan's voting history and quotes]
"[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/raymond-chan-profile Raymond Chan (Profile)]" by Anthony Wilson-Smith and Chris Wood at The Canadian Encyclopedia

{{Canadian federal ministry navigational box header |ministry=27}}

{{ministry box cabinet posts

| post1 = Minister of State (Multiculturalism)

| post1years = 2004–2006

| post1note =

| post1preceded =

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{{Canadian federal ministry navigational box header |ministry=26}}

{{ministry box sub-cabinet posts

| post1 = Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific)

| post1years = 1993–2001