Josephine Pon

Josephine Pon is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2019 Alberta general election to represent the electoral district of Calgary-Beddington in the 30th Alberta Legislature. She is a member of the United Conservative Party.[2] On April 30, 2019, she was appointed to be the Minister of Seniors and Housing in the Executive Council of Alberta.

The Honourable Josephine Pon MLA
Alberta Minister of Seniors and Housing
Incumbent
Assumed office April 16, 2019
Preceded by	Lori Sigurdson
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Beddington
Incumbent
Assumed office April 30, 2019
Preceded by	New district
Personal details
Born	British Hong Kong[1]
Political party	United Conservative Party
Residence	Calgary, Alberta
Occupation	Business Management

Background

Pon was born in Hong Kong. She immigrated to Alberta, Canada in 1981, living her following years in Edmonton then eventually in Calgary with a career in banking before pursuing her political career.[3] According to election promotion material from the 2019 Alberta provincial election, Pon worked in banking for over 20 years, in roles such as Account Manager in Personal/Commercial banking and Regional Manager, Business Development responsible for Multicultural Banking in the Prairie Region with Scotiabank working with more than 230 branches as well as 3,000 staff in and around the Prairie Region.[4] Between 2013 and 2016 she was the chair of the board of directors for Immigrant Services Calgary (ISC) helping over 27,000 immigrants over 50 programs each year.[5] She also worked at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), a crown corporation in mortgage insurance, as an International Trade Consultant as well as in the Assisted Housing department in the Prairie Region. Currently, she is Vice President of the Taste of Asia Group, which comprises five restaurants in Canada and well over 150 employees, claiming to assist in providing insight to the reality of the economic situation involving business and restaurant owners.[6] On July 29, 2017 Josephine Pon was introduced as a part of Jason Kenney's Conservative Party leadership announcement.[7]

Political life

On April 30, 2019, Pon was appointed as Alberta's Minister of Seniors and Housing, vowing to work to ensure that Albertans and seniors have access to affordable housing and have the resources they need.[8] Since appointment, she has worked on reforming conventional methods of application and management of provincial benefits such as mailing, faxing or dropping-off to a more senior friendly digital option.[9] She has also made efforts to advance housing projects in Alberta, saying "Investing in affordable housing is vital to helping more low-income Albertans get on the path to financial stability."[10] Since her election, Pon has also managed to integrate herself into a variety of volunteer opportunities for non-profit organisations: Immigrants of Distinction Awards gala, the Edmonton Mayor's task force to eliminate poverty and the Board Chair of Immigrant Services Calgary.[11]

In November 2019, Pon announced her affordable housing plan.[12]

Electoral record

2019 Alberta general election: Calgary-Beddington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	United Conservative	Josephine Pon	11,625	53.1
	New Democratic	Amanda Chapman	7,818	35.7
	Alberta Party	Carol-Lynn Darch	1,799	8.2
	Liberal	Chandan Tadavalkar	370	1.7
	Independence	Tom Grbich	161	0.7
	Independent	Alexander Dea	117	0.5
Total valid votes			21,890	100.0
Rejected, spoiled and declined			103
Registered electors			35,648
Turnout			21,993	61.6
Source: Elections Alberta

[13]

References

1. https://crtc.gc.ca/fra/BCASTING/ann_rep/Rogers_2018_CD_Report.pdf
2. "Alberta election: Calgary-Beddington results - Calgary". Global News. 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
3. "Meet Josephine Pon". Josephine Pon. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
4. "Josephine Pon biography". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
5. "Meet Josephine Pon". Josephine Pon. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
6. "2018 Diversity Report" (PDF). Rogers. January 31, 2019.
7. "Meet Josephine Pon". Josephine Pon. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
8. "Josephine Pon biography". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
9. Wyton, Moira (2019-10-02). "UCP announces digitization of seniors' benefits". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
10. "Federal government aids in development of housing projects in Calgary". Calgary. 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
11. "Josephine Pon biography". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2019-10-27.
12. Marshall, Matt (2019-11-21). "Affordable housing plan rolled out by provincial government". Edmonton. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
13. "Election Results". Elections Alberta. Retrieved 2019-10-27.