Chungsen Leung
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Chungsen (C. S.) Leung (Chinese: 梁中心) (born July 14, 1950)[1] is a Taiwanese-born Canadian businessman and Conservative politician who was formerly the MP for Willowdale. After his election in the 2011 federal election, Leung was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism, a role he held until his defeat in the 2015 federal election.
Chungsen Leung | |
|---|---|
梁中心 | |
| Member of Parliament for Willowdale | |
| In office May 2, 2011 – October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Martha Hall Findlay |
| Succeeded by | Ali Ehsassi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 14, 1950 Taipei, Taiwan |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence(s) | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | Carleton University University of Southern California |
Early life and education
Chungsen Leung was born in Taipei, Taiwan on July 14, 1950.[1] He pursued his secondary education in Japan.[2] As the international community gradually recognized the mainland People's Republic of China in the 1960s, he feared that he could become stateless as a person born in Taiwan.[3] He immigrated to Canada in 1968, where he received a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in economics and business at Carleton University.[4][5] Leung later earned a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Management and Engineering from the University of Southern California.[5]
Business career
Leung is an entrepreneur with business experiences in disaster mitigation management, urban mass transit projects, building environmentally friendly houses, air & water purification systems, sports equipment retailing and red deer farming. Chungsen also has business experience in the tourism and hospitality sector.[citation needed]
He was a business owner and chief executive officer of four Richmond Hill small and medium size enterprises, as well as, a past director and audit chair of the Xenos Group,[6][failed verification] a Toronto Stock Exchange listed public company in software development and engineering, and a director with Active Growth Capital.[7][failed verification][8][failed verification]
His international business experience includes being a member of numerous federal and provincial trade missions during the last two decades; the Toronto-Chongqing Sister City Twinning Mission; organizing the 1st Team Richmond Hill Mission to Asia Pacific; Richmond Hill – Shijiazhuang Sister City Twinning Mission, a member of the Advisory Board for Ontario Export Inc. and the bid team leader to host the 1997 World Chinese Entrepreneur Convention in Toronto.[citation needed]
Leung has been: founding president of the Richmond Hill & Markham Chinese Business Association, a corporate cabinet director of the Conservation Foundation of Greater Toronto, a member of the Richmond Hill Naturalist, a director of the Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce and numerous other bi-lateral trade or business related associations.[9][10]
Leung is a director of the York Central Hospital Foundation, and a director of the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority Foundation.[11]
Politics
Before becoming the Conservative Party candidate in 2011, he was the party's candidate for Richmond Hill in the 2008 federal election, losing to Liberal candidate Bryon Wilfert.[12] He was also the candidate for Willowdale representing the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in the 2000 federal election, losing to Liberal candidate Jim Peterson.[13]
Leung was elected to the House in 2011 as the MP for Willowdale, and has served as the Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism since May 25, 2011.[1] During a meeting organized by The Association of North American Ethnic Journalists & Writers in January 2015, Leung was questioned over the closure of the Canadian embassy in Iran and was recorded saying: "Let me ask you, if you like Iran so much, then why do you come to Canada?" during a heated exchange.[14] Although Leung's staff indicated that this could have been the result of a miscommunication during cross-talk, it was a comment which angered some of those present, and Leung sent an email statement shortly after the incident stating that it was not his "intention to offend anyone. I regret if some attendees felt offended."[14]
Leung was defeated in the 2015 federal election by Liberal candidate Ali Ehsassi.[15]
Personal life
Chungsen Leung is married to Deborah Chute, and together they have one child, Elysia.[5] He has lived in the Willowdale riding for over two decades.[4]
Leung trained to play the bagpipes at Cape Breton's Gaelic College after becoming enamored with the instrument during a family vacation to Scotland.[16] Leung played two times for Queen Elizabeth II: once in 2002 for her Ontario Golden Jubilee celebrations and again in 2004, when he was asked to play for her in her summer retreat at Balmoral Castle.[16] Leung also played the bagpipes for Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during their 2011 royal tour of Canada.[16]
Chungsen Leung is a cross country skier, a scuba instructor, an Eagle Scout and the Parliamentary Liaison to Scouts Canada.[citation needed]
In 2003, Leung and his wife, Deborah Chute, received five national "Green" awards for building their energy efficient and environmentally friendly house in Richmond Hill. These awards are: Enerquality Corporation for a super R-2000 house, Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation for a healthy home, Canadian Home Builder Association for best environmental practices, Enbridge for low gas consumption guarantee, and Enerwork for being one of the first to use solar energy heating.[citation needed]
Electoral record
| 2015 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ali Ehsassi | 24,519 | 53.4 | +13.5 | – | |||
| Conservative | Chungsen Leung | 16,990 | 37.0 | -4.7 | – | |||
| New Democratic | Pouyan Tabasinejad | 3,203 | 7.0 | -11.4 | – | |||
| Green | James Arruda | 1,025 | 2.2 | +1.81 | – | |||
| Independent | Birinder Singh Ahluwalia | 216 | 0.5 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 45,953 | 100.0 | $206,712.87 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 251 | 0.5 | -0.1 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,204 | 61.46 | +3.06 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 75,172 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +9.1 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[17][18] | ||||||||
| 2011 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Chungsen Leung | 22,207 | 41.7 | +9.2 | ||||
| Liberal | Martha Hall Findlay | 21,275 | 39.9 | -8.8 | ||||
| New Democratic | Mehdi Mollahasani | 9,777 | 18.4 | +8.2 | ||||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 53,259 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 295 | 0.6 | +0.2 | |||||
| Turnout | 53,554 | 58.4 | +6.5 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 91,631 | – | – | |||||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +9.0 | ||||||
References
- ^ a b c "LEUNG, Chungsen, B.A., M.Sc". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
- ^ From Taiwan's shores to Canadian MP, in one generation[dead link]
- ^ a b Cross, Allison (3 May 2011). "Conservatives take Liberal safe seat in Willowdale". Toronto Star. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ a b c "Richmond Hill". CBC News. 2008. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ Chungsen Leung: Executive Profile and Biography - Businessweek businessweek.com, April 19, 2011
- ^ Active Growth Capital Inc (ACK.V) People Reuters.com Reuters.com April 22, 2011
- ^ Company Summary TSX April 22, 2011
- ^ Federal Election Willowdale N.E. Neighbourhood Association willowdaleneighbourhood.ca, April 19, 2011[dead link]
- ^ Richmond Hill Naturalists Blog rhnaturalists.ca, April 22, 2011 June 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ TRCA Board of Directors[failed verification] June 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine trca.on.ca, April 18, 2011.
- ^ Richmond Hill - Canada Votes - CBC.ca cbc.ca, April 19, 2011.
- ^ Elections Canada Poll-by-poll Result Files, 1997 and 2000 General Elections. elections.ca, April 18, 2011.
- ^ a b "Toronto MP issues apology after comments anger Iranian-Canadians". CTV. January 27, 2015. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
- ^ Campbell, Megan (20 October 2015). "The loneliness of a losing candidate". Maclean's. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ a b c Raj, Althia (30 June 2011). "Bagpiping MP to play for Will and Kate". Postmedia News. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
- ^ Canada, Elections. "Voter Information Service - Find your electoral district". www.elections.ca.
- ^ Canada, Elections. . www.elections.ca. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015.
External links
- Chungsen Leung – Parliament of Canada biography