Raymond Chan
Richmond 49° 9' 47.40" N, 123° 8' 14.69" W Politics Person
Raymond Chan, PC (Chinese: 陳卓愉; pinyin: Chén Zhuōyú; Jyutping: Can4 Ceok3 Jyu4), (b. 1951) is the first Chinese Canadian to be appointed to the Cabinet of Canada. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Chan was elected to Parliament in the 1993 federal election, defeating then Defence Minister Tom Siddon in the riding of Richmond, British Columbia. Chan is the third Chinese Canadian to be elected to Parliament, after Douglas Jung, who secured a seat in 1957, and Art Lee in 1974. In 2008, Chan lost his riding of Richmond to Conservative candidate Alice Wong. He and Inky Mark are the longest serving Canadian parliamentarians of Chinese root.
Raymond Chan was born in Hong Kong on October 25, 1951. He emigrated to Canada in 1969, two years after Canada liberalized its immigration policy. He received a B.A.Sc. degree in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1977. From 1977 to 1993, he worked as an engineer for TRIUMF, a particle accelerator laboratory at UBC.
Chan joined the Liberal Party of Canada in 1991, and was elected to Parliament in the 1993 election,[1] defeating Defence Minister Tom Siddon in the riding of Richmond, British Columbia. Chan secured the nomination win over future cabinet colleague Herb Dhaliwal, who subsequently chose to run in the adjacent Vancouver South riding. He was then appointed by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as the Secretary of State for the Asia-Pacific Region for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He served in this position from 1993 to 2000.
He was defeated in the 2000 election by Joe Peschisolido of the Canadian Alliance. After Peschisolido crossed the floor to the Liberal Party, Chan battled Peschisolido for the Liberal Party's nomination, and won it after a fiercely-contested race.
Chan returned to Parliament in the 2004 election. He was subsequently appointed to the cabinet by Prime Minister Paul Martin as the Minister of State (Multiculturalism) for the Department of Heritage.
Chan was re-elected in 2006, and served as Opposition Critic for the Asia Pacific, Seniors, the Social Economy, and Canadian Border Security throughout the 39th session of Parliament.
He was succeeded by Conservative Alice Wong in the election of 2008, when the Federal Liberal vote in British Columbia fell to a low of 19%.