Henry Yao
Henry Jiun-Hsien Yao (traditional Chinese: 姚君憲; simplified Chinese: 姚君宪) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election.[3] He represents the electoral district of Richmond South Centre as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP).
Henry Yao | |||||||
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姚君憲 | |||||||
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Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Richmond South Centre | |||||||
Assumed office October 24, 2020 | |||||||
Preceded by | Linda Reid | ||||||
Personal details | |||||||
Born | Jiun-Hsien Yao[1] 1978/1979 (age 43–45)[2] Taiwan | ||||||
Political party | New Democratic | ||||||
Other political affiliations | RITE Richmond | ||||||
Residence | Richmond, British Columbia | ||||||
Alma mater | University of British Columbia | ||||||
Chinese name | |||||||
Traditional Chinese | 姚君憲 | ||||||
Simplified Chinese | 姚君宪 | ||||||
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Biography
Born in Taiwan, Yao immigrated to Canada at the age of 11, settling in Richmond, British Columbia.[4] After graduating from Matthew McNair Secondary School, he studied at the University of British Columbia, from which he received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology.[5] He was diagnosed with two types of lymphoma in 2004;[5][6] after his cancer went into remission, he pursued a career in youth work.[7]
He ran for Richmond City Council twice: the first time in 2014 as an independent candidate,[2] then in 2018 as part of RITE Richmond.[8] Both attempts were unsuccessful.[4]
In the 2020 provincial election, Yao ran in the riding of Richmond South Centre as an NDP candidate, against Alexa Loo of the Liberals. He defeated Loo by a margin of 179 votes, becoming a member of the Legislative Assembly.[3][9]
Electoral record
Provincial elections
2020 British Columbia general election: Richmond South Centre | ||||||||
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Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
New Democratic | Henry Yao | 6,743 | 50.67 | +10.39 | $37,030.55 | |||
Liberal | Alexa Loo | 6,564 | 49.33 | +0.61 | $50,107.69 | |||
Total valid votes | 13,307 | 100.00 | – | |||||
Rejected ballots | 207 | 1.53 | +0.34 | |||||
Turnout | 13,514 | 40.12 | −6.58 | |||||
Registered voters | 33,685 | |||||||
New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +4.89 | ||||||
Source: Elections BC[10][11] |
Municipal elections
Top 8 candidates elected — Incumbents marked with "(X)". Elected members' names are in bold
Party | Council candidate | Vote | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
RITE Richmond | Carol Day (X) | 20,871 | 7.01 | |
Richmond Citizens' Association | Harold Steves (X) | 19,136 | 6.43 | |
Richmond Community Coalition | Chak Au (X) | 18,026 | 6.05 | |
Richmond First | Bill McNulty (X) | 17,242 | 5.79 | |
Richmond Citizens' Association | Kelly Greene | 16,464 | 5.53 | |
Richmond First | Linda McPhail (X) | 15,521 | 5.21 | |
RITE Richmond | Michael Wolfe | 13,627 | 4.58 | |
Independent | Alexa Loo (X) | 13,212 | 4.44 | |
Richmond First | Derek Dang (X) | 13,115 | 4.40 | |
Richmond First | Andy Hobbs | 12,336 | 4.14 | |
Richmond Citizens' Association | Judie Schneider | 11,672 | 3.92 | |
Richmond Community Coalition | Ken Johnston (X) | 11,161 | 3.75 | |
Richmond Community Coalition | Jonathan Ho | 11,140 | 3.74 | |
Richmond Citizens' Association | Jack Trovato | 10,915 | 3.67 | |
Richmond First | Sunny Ho | 8,933 | 3.00 | |
RITE Richmond | Niti Sharma | 8,917 | 2.99 | |
RITE Richmond | Henry Yao | 8,467 | 2.84 | |
Richmond First | Peter Liu | 8,357 | 2.81 | |
Richmond Community Coalition | Parm Bains | 7,973 | 2.68 | |
Independent | John Roston | 7,961 | 2.67 | |
Richmond Community Coalition | Melissa Zhang | 7,708 | 2.38 | |
Independent | Kerry Starchuk | 6,959 | 2.34 | |
Independent | Jason Tarnow | 5,720 | 1.92 | |
Independent | Adil Awan | 4,278 | 1.44 | |
Independent | Manjit Singh | 4,134 | 1.39 | |
Independent | Dennis Page | 3,478 | 1.17 | |
Independent | Andy Chiang | 3,337 | 1.12 | |
Independent | Theresa Head | 3,251 | 1.09 | |
Independent | Patrick J. Saunders | 2,241 | 0.75 | |
Independent | Zhe Zhang | 2,241 | 0.75 |
References
- Wood, Graeme (2014-09-18). "Henry Yao vows spending cuts on council". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- Wood, Graeme (2015-06-25). "Coffee with: Henry Yao a keen observer". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- Rantanen, Maria (2020-11-07). "Update: NDP secures third provincial seat in Richmond". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- Shen, Nono (2020-09-28). "Updated: Richmond activist Henry Yao to run for the NDP". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- "Candidate bio - Henry Yao". Richmond News. 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- "Candidate Profiles: Richmond General Local and School Election 2014" (PDF). City of Richmond. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- Fennell, Don (2020-11-26). "Meet your MLAs: Henry Yao (Richmond South Centre)". Richmond Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- Kotyk, Alyse (2018-06-15). "RITE Richmond announces slate for October election". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- Larsen, Karin (2020-11-07). "Projected Green seat flipped to Liberals following tightest race in B.C." CBC News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
- "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 7 February 2021.