Tony Wong (born Wong Chi-wah; December 12, 1948 – June 17, 2009) was a

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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, 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 2003 to 2006 representing the Greater Toronto Area riding of

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

. He was a municipal councillor for the city of Markham from 1997 to 2004 and served as a

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...

Councillor from 2006 to 2009.

Background

Wong was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and he studied at the

Diocesan Boys' School The Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) is a day and boarding Anglican boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131 Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon near Mong Kok East station. The school's mission is "to provide a liberal education based on Christian pr ...

. He received a Bachelor's degree in math from 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 ...

and

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in computer science from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

. He was a lawyer (

) and founding director of the Metropolitan Toronto Southeast Asian Legal Clinic. He was a partner in his own practice, Wong and Chun. He served as a board member of the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation, the St. John's Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation and the York Region Police Services Board. He is cousin of Toronto City Councillor

Cynthia Lai Cynthia Lai ( ; ; October 19, 1954 – October 21, 2022) was a Canadian politician who represented Ward 23 Scarborough North on the Toronto City Council from 2018 to 2022. Background Lai immigrated from Hong Kong and moved to Canada in 1972. ...

Politics

In 1997 Wong, ran for the municipal council in

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

. He received 1,406 votes defeating his nearest rival by 774 votes. In the 2000 election, he was elected as one of four regional councillors. He was a leading figure in calling for reconciliation between the city's Chinese and Muslim communities in 1999, after a controversy concerning the construction of a local

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

. In 2003, he spoke against an attempt by the government of China to enact "anti-subversion" legislation in Hong Kong (many recent Chinese immigrants in Markham have dual Canadian/Hong Kong citizenship). In the 2003 provincial election, he contested Markham for the Liberal Party against

David Tsubouchi (born August 20, 1951) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. H ...

, a prominent cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

and

Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership upon Mike Harris's resignation as party leade ...

. Markham had been represented by the Progressive Conservative Party since its creation in 1987, and it was anticipated that Tsubouchi would be re-elected despite a strong provincial swing to the Liberals; instead, Wong defeated him by 5,996 votes. Wong acknowledged that his candidacy benefited from a large ethnic Chinese immigrant population in the riding. The Liberals won the provincial election, and Wong was subsequently named

parliamentary assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...

to Joseph Cordiano, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade. Not long after his election, Wong held a benefit dinner for the daughters of Geng Chaohui, a recent Chinese immigrant to Canada who committed suicide because of underemployment. The event raised $30,000, although it was little reported outside of the

Chinese-language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

press. On September 25, 2006, Wong resigned his seat in the legislature to run for York Regional Council. He won one of four seats in November 2006. He served in council until March 2009 and took a leave of absence. Wong was expected to return to council in September. Wong died of liver failure on June 17, 2009 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. He is survived by his wife Ellee and his daughter Daphne.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Tony 1948 births 2009 deaths Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Lawyers in Ontario Naturalized citizens of Canada Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Ontario municipal councillors People from the Regional Municipality of York University of Missouri alumni University of San Diego alumni University of Toronto alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians