Michael Chan (Canadian politician)

Michael Chan (traditional Chinese: 陳國治; simplified Chinese: 陈国治; Jyutping: can4 gwok3 zi6; pinyin: Chén Guózhì) (born c. 1951) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 until 2018. He represented the riding of Markham-Unionville. Chan served as a Cabinet Minister, during his entire tenure in politics in the governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. Michael Chan presently serves as a Senior Business Advisor for the law firm Miller Thomson LLP in Vaughan. Chan also serves as a Member of the Board of Governors at the Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology.[1]

Michael Chan
陳國治
Michael Chan at The Canadian Film Centre Annual BBQ in 2014
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Markham-Unionville Markham (2007)
In office February 8, 2007 – June 7, 2018
Preceded by	Tony Wong
Succeeded by	Billy Pang
Personal details
Born	1951 (age 69–70) Guangzhou, China
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Markham, Ontario
Occupation	Insurance broker

Background

Chan was born in Guangzhou, and his father was an official in the Kuomintang.[2] As the Chinese Communist Party took power in China, Mr. Chan's family went to Macau,[2] before moving to Hong Kong and eventually migrating to Canada in 1969, when he was 18.[3] He has since maintained close ties, and confirmed in a 2008 interview with Xinhua News Agency that he had visited China over 70 times since the early 1980s.[3] He told the reporter, "strictly speaking, I’m Canadian, but I have been always paying attention to the root of my culture. I am much concerned with Chinese affairs."[3] Chan has lived in Markham since 1995.

Before entering politics he was president of the federal Liberal Party of Canada riding association for the Markham—Unionville constituency held by MP John McCallum.

Politics

Chan was elected in a February 8, 2007 by-election, necessitated by the resignation of former Liberal MPP Tony Wong, who left his seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to successfully run for York Regional Council in 2006. He was re-elected in 2007, 2011, and 2014.[4][5][6]

In February, 2007 he was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Revenue. In October 2007, after the election he was moved to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.[7] In 2010 he was moved again to Minister of Tourism, Culture. A year later the mandate of the ministry was changed slightly to include Sport issues. In November 2012 he assumed the roles Citizenship and Immigration and responsibility for the Pan/Parapan American Games from Charles Sousa when Sousa announced he was running for the leadership of the Liberal Party.

In February 2013, when Kathleen Wynne took over as the new Premier, she confirmed Chan in his roles as Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and Minister Responsible for the 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games.[8] In June 2014, Wynne appointed Chan as the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade.[9]

Chan has been instrumental in fundraising for the Liberals,[2] as well as being active in the recruitment of Chinese Canadians to campaign for seats at both the federal and provincial levels.[2]

Chan announced his retirement from provincial politics in April 2018, a few months before the next Ontario election.[10] During the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, Chan publicly condemned the protesters and supported the use of violence by the pro-Chinese Communist Party government of Hong Kong.[11] Chan blamed the protests on "outside" forces, echoing a pro-Beijing stance.[12] Critics have marked this move as a hypocritical and politically motivated betrayal of his roots as the son of a Kuomintang official persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party, especially considering that he moved to Portuguese Macau and British Hong Kong, then to Canada, to escape Communist China.

Allegations of Chinese Communist Party influence and subsequent libel lawsuit

In August 2015, Chan sued The Globe and Mail for a June 2015 report that claimed he was the subject an investigation by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service of Chan's ties to officials in Beijing and susceptibility to influence by the Chinese government.[13][14][15][16] In response, Chan viewed his engagement with China as an appropriate aspect of his role as the Minister of Immigration and International Trade in Ontario. Former Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne also rejected the accusations made.[17] Toronto lawyer Ping Tam suggested that Chan was being targeted because he supported a failed 2013 agreement between the Toronto District School Board to install Confucius Institutes in local schools and because Chan was encouraging young Chinese-Canadians to engage in politics.[18][19] The Globe and Mail has maintained its reporting and the case is still before the courts. Chan also threatened Alberta premier Jason Kenney with a lawsuit over criticism of Chan's support for Beijing.[20]

In September 2019, Chan publicly sided with Beijing against the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, denouncing the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as the work of foreign actors intent on undermining the state of China.[21]

Cabinet posts

Electoral record

Ontario provincial by-election, February 8, 2007: Markham
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Chan	9,080	49.32%	−2.38
	Progressive Conservative	Alex Yuan	6,420	34.87%	−5.46
	New Democratic	Janice Hagan	1,492	8.10%	+3.02
	Green	Bernadette Manning	999	5.43%	+3.87
	Freedom	Cathy McKeever	159	0.86%	–
	Family Coalition	Patrick Redmond	135	0.73%	−0.59
	Libertarian	Jay Miller	126	0.69%	–
Total valid votes			18,411	100.00
	Liberal hold		Swing		+1.25

2007 Ontario general election: Markham—Unionville
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Michael Chan	21,054	59.32
	Progressive Conservative	Ki Kit Li	9,581	27.00
	New Democratic	Andy Arifin	2,599	7.32
	Green	Bernadette Manning	1,911	5.38
	Family Coalition	Leon Williams	345	0.97
Total valid votes			35,490	100.0

2011 Ontario general election: Markham—Unionville
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Chan	19,579	52.58	−6.74
	Progressive Conservative	Shan Thayaparan	11,720	31.47	+4.47
	New Democratic	P.C. Choo	4,575	12.29	+4.97
	Green	Myles O'Brien	1,104	2.96	−2.42
	Libertarian	Allen Small	259	0.70
Total valid votes			37,237	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			284	0.76
Turnout			37,521	40.68
Eligible voters			92,232
	Liberal hold		Swing		−5.61
Source(s) "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Markham—Unionville" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2014.

2014 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Michael Chan	21,517	51.33	-1.25
	Progressive Conservative	Shan Thayaparan	14,241	33.98	+2.51
	New Democratic	Nadine Kormos Hawkins	4,205	10.03	-2.26
	Green	Myles O'Brien	1,509	3.60	+0.64
	Libertarian	Allen Small	444	1.06	+0.36
Total valid votes			41,916	100.0
	Liberal hold		Swing		-1.88
Source: Elections Ontario[6]

References

Notes

Citations

1. "Michael Chan". Miller Thomson LLP. Archived from the original on 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
2. Craig Offman (June 17, 2015). "The making of Michael Chan". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
3. Ghoreishi, Omid (September 28, 2011). "Ontario Minister Asked Festival to Ban Newspaper to Please Chinese Consul, Says Source". The Epoch Times. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2015.
4. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
5. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
6. "General Election by District: Markham-Unionville". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on July 2, 2014.
7. Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (October 31, 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
8. "Ontario's new cabinet". Waterloo Region Record. Kitchener, Ont. February 12, 2013. p. A3.
9. Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (June 24, 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
10. Benzie, Robert (April 5, 2018). "Liberal cabinet ministers Michael Chan and Tracy MacCharles, MPP Grant Crack say they are retiring". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
11. Blackwell, Tom (2019-08-21). "Former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister headlines pro-Beijing rally near Toronto | National Post". National Post. Archived from the original on 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
12. Xu, Xiao (September 15, 2019). "Former Ontario minister sides with Beijing, pins Hong Kong protests on 'outside' forces". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on September 16, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
13. Offman, Craig (June 17, 2015). "The making of Michael Chan". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
14. Edmiston, Jake (2015-06-22). "Michael Chan threatens legal action over Globe report that CSIS investigated his ties to China". National Post. Archived from the original on 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
15. Ferguson, Rob (August 7, 2015). "Ontario cabinet minister Michael Chan sues Globe and Mail for $4.55 million". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
16. John Manthorpe (5 January 2019). Claws of the Panda: Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada. Cormorant Books. pp. 251–255. ISBN 978-1-77086-539-6.
17. Jun 16, The Canadian Press · Posted; June 16, 2015 3:28 PM ET | Last Updated; 2015. "Premier rejects CSIS claim that China is influencing cabinet minister | CBC News". CBC. Archived from the original on 2016-05-18. Retrieved 2019-02-14.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
18. Adler, Mike (2015-06-30). "Chinese-Canadian organizations demand apologies for stories in Globe and Mail". Toronto.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
19. Aug 07, The Canadian Press · Posted; August 7, 2015 4:30 PM ET | Last Updated; 2015. "Ontario minister Michael Chan sues Globe and Mail for alleging Chinese ties | CBC News". CBC. Archived from the original on 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-02-04.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
20. Offman, Craig (July 7, 2016). "Threatening lawsuit, Michael Chan demands apology from Jason Kenney". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on February 16, 2017. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
21. Xu, Xiao. "Chan sides with Beijing on Hong Kong Protests |". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2019-09-16. Retrieved 2019-09-16.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history (archived)