George Chow
George Chow (Chinese: 周烱華) is a Canadian politician. He was elected as a New Democratic Party Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2017 provincial election, representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview, and served as the Minister of State for Trade from 2017 to 2022. He was previously a two-term Vancouver City Councillor who was elected as a member of the Vision Vancouver party in 2005 and 2008.[1] Prior to being elected Chow worked at BC Hydro for over 30 years, where he worked part-time when he was a councillor.[1]
George Chow | |
|---|---|
| 周烱華 | |
| Minister of State for Trade of British Columbia | |
| In office July 18, 2017 – December 7, 2022 | |
| Premier | John Horgan David Eby |
| Preceded by | Position Created |
| Succeeded by | Jagrup Brar |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Fraserview | |
| Assumed office May 9, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Suzanne Anton |
| Vancouver City Councillor | |
| In office November 19, 2005 – December 5, 2011 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1950 or 1951 China |
| Political party | New Democratic Party (provincial) Vision Vancouver (municipal) |
| Residence(s) | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| George Chow | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 周烱華 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 周烱华 | ||||||
| |||||||
Background
Chow was born in China[1][2] in either 1950 or 1951, and emigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in 1965 at the age of 14 and settled in Vancouver.[3] His father was a cook, and his mother a farm worker.[2] After immigrating, Chow grew up in the Downtown Eastside.[1] He initially enrolled at William Dawson School and then transferred to Britannia Secondary School.[2] He went on to complete a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of British Columbia.[2]
Political career
He first ran for council as an independent in 2002 because of his opposition to the proposed safe injection site in the Downtown Eastside near Chinatown.[2] Chow reassessed his position on the safe injection site following its 2003 opening[4] and was subsequently recruited by Vision Vancouver to join its slate for his successful 2005 campaign.[1] He was re-elected for a second term in 2008.[5]
He also served on many community organizations as a volunteer including: the Urban Spirit Foundation, Vancouver Public Library Board, Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, Boys and Girls Clubs of South Coast BC, Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver, Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., and various family associations. He was actively involved with the building of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver's Chinatown during the 1970s and 1980s.
Electoral record
| 2020 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Fraserview | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | George Chow | 12,247 | 56.37 | +7.80 | $42,403.53 | |||
| Liberal | David Grewal | 7,511 | 34.57 | −7.65 | $64,241.50 | |||
| Green | Françoise Raunet | 1,969 | 9.06 | +1.34 | $243.99 | |||
| Total valid votes | 21,727 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 170 | 0.78 | −0.27 | |||||
| Turnout | 21,897 | 50.22 | −10.33 | |||||
| Registered voters | 43,602 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +0.08 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[6][7] | ||||||||
| 2017 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Fraserview | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | George Chow | 11,487 | 48.57 | +4.01 | $68,196 | |||
| Liberal | Suzanne Anton | 9,985 | 42.22 | -4.52 | $69,911 | |||
| Green | Eric Kolotyluk | 1,826 | 7.72 | +2.04 | $2,357 | |||
| Libertarian | Hiroshi Hyde | 179 | 0.76 | – | $56 | |||
| Your Political Party | Harpreet S. Bajwa | 174 | 0.73 | – | $8,399 | |||
| Total valid votes | 23,651 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 252 | 1.05 | -0.1 | |||||
| Turnout | 23,903 | 60.55 | +5.59 | |||||
| Registered voters | 39,479 | |||||||
| Source: Elections BC[8][9] | ||||||||
| 2013 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Langara | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Liberal | Moira Stilwell | 10,234 | 52.60 | |||||
| New Democratic | George Chow | 7,447 | 38.28 | |||||
| Green | Regan-Heng Zhang | 1,055 | 5.42 | |||||
| Conservative | Gurjinder Bains | 674 | 3.46 | |||||
| Platinum | Espavo Sozo | 45 | 0.23 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 19455 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 172 | 0.88 | ||||||
| Turnout | 19627 | 50.52 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[10] | ||||||||
References
- ^ a b c d e "Councillor George Chow" December 2, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Vancouver City Website, Accessed August 29, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e "Vision's George Chow: Chinatown/DTES Native Son" Archived 2013-02-04 at archive.today, Vancouver Observer, December 11, 2008.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-05-19.
- ^ "The Conversion of George Chow", The Tyee, October 19, 2005.
- ^ "Election Results: November 15, 2008", Vancouver City Website, Accessed August 29, 2009.
- ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ "2017 Provincial General Election Preliminary Voting Results". Elections BC. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
External links
- TheTyee.ca: The Conversion of George Chow