Robert Charles Wong (; born April 27, 1941) is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

in Ontario, Canada. He was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990 who represented the

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Str ...

riding of

Fort York Fort York (french: Fort-York) is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used to house members of the British and Canadian militaries, and to defend the entrance of t ...

. He served as a cabinet minister in the provincial government of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgr ...

Background

Wong was educated at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

, earning

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

and

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

degrees. He was a special assistant of the Minister of National Health and Welfare from 1968 to 1970, and served as special advisor to Canada's first Minister of State for Multiculturalism in 1972. Wong later served as president of the Toronto District Liberal Association from 1974 to 1976, and of the Ontario Chinese Liberal Association in 1986. He also chaired the Toronto Ontario Olympic Committee, and was a member of the Multicultural Advisory Council. In private life, served as chair of Goulding, Rose & Turner Ltd., and was a director of May Mikkila Inc., Abico Management Ltd., Multilingual Television Ltd., Channel 47 Toronto (Canada's first multilingual television station) and Sky Continental Management Inc. He established the first brokerage office in Toronto's Chinatown, and was named Analyst of the year for 1980 by Financial Times of Canada. He also is the author of "Computing: An Introduction" and the co-author of "Algorithms", both published in 1967.

Politics

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election, defeating

Joe Pantalone Joe Pantalone (born February 22, 1952) is a retired Canadian politician. He served as a former Toronto city councillor for Ward 19, one of two wards in Trinity—Spadina and as deputy mayor under David Miller from 2003 to 2010. He ran for mayor i ...

of the New Democratic Party (NDP) by 137 votes in the downtown Toronto riding of

. He was appointed to cabinet on September 29, 1987 as Minister of Energy. He was named Minister of Citizenship responsible for race relations, multiculturalism and

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature through ...

on August 2, 1989. The Liberals were defeated by the NDP in the 1990 provincial election, and Wong lost the Fort York riding by about 1,500 votes to

Rosario Marchese Rosario Marchese (born January 1, 1952) is a former Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 2014, representing the downtown Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina a ...

. He sought to return to the legislature in the 1995 election, but lost again to Marchese by over 2,000 votes. Wong supported

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...

for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in 1996.

Cabinet positions

Later life

Wong was later appointed chair of the

Canadian Automobile Association The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA; french: Association canadienne des automobilistes) is a federation of eight regional not-for-profit automobile associations in Canada, founded in 1913. The constituent associations (also called "clubs") ...

(CAA) Ontario's Government and Public Affairs Committee. He is now Vice-Chairman and Portfolio Manager with Leon Frazer & Associates Ltd, and is a board member of the Royal Ontario Museum.

References

External links