Wai Young
Vancouver 49° 15' 39.14" N, 123° 6' 50.23" W Politics Person
Wai Young (traditional Chinese: 楊蕭慧儀) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2011 election. She represents the electoral district of Vancouver South as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Early life[edit]
Young was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada when she was four years old. She attended Killarney Secondary School and graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in sociology. Young has also taken post-graduate studies at Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She is married with twins, and is the foster parent of seven children.
Before politics[edit]
Prior to being elected, Young was a consultant and small businesswoman who contributed to social policies and program development. Her clientele includes municipal governments, Rogers Communications, Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Area Society, South Vancouver Policing Centre and S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Some of her work includes developing "youth at risk" programs, services for immigrants, and helping to found the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance (CISSA). Young also worked for the provincial Ministry of Children and Family Development and the federal Ministry of Immigration.
Entrance to politics[edit]
After losing by 20 votes in 2008 federal election, Young was elected in 2011 by a margin of nearly 4,000 votes in a closely watched rematch over former B.C. Premier Ujjal Dosanjh. In doing so, she became the first Conservative MP to be elected in Vancouver since 1988.
Regarding the first SkyTrain faregate, Young said "The new faregates will make SkyTrain service safer and more secure for commuters."