1. On September 8,2020, Chong was appointed the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.
38 Facts About Michael Chong
1. 2.
Michael Chong began his career on Bay Street before entering politics.
3.
Michael Chong ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2017, coming in fifth place out of fourteen candidates.
4.
Michael Chong was born on November 22,1971, in Windsor, Ontario, the oldest son of Cornelia de Haan and Paul Michael Chong.
5.
Michael Chong's father was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada in 1952, becoming a doctor.
6.
Michael Chong's mother arrived in Canada in 1960 from the Netherlands, and worked as a nurse.
7.
Michael Chong was raised near Fergus in Wellington County, a small town in rural Southern Ontario, and attended Centre Wellington District High School.
8.
In 1978, when Michael Chong was six years old, his mother was killed in a car accident at an intersection near Fergus.
9.
In 1999, Michael Chong's father was killed in a car accident at the same intersection where his mother had been killed 21 years earlier.
10.
Michael Chong attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto where he studied philosophy, history and politics.
11.
Michael Chong has worked in information technology for Barclays Bank and Research Capital Corporation.
12.
Michael Chong worked as a senior technology consultant to the Greater Toronto Airports Authority for the redevelopment of Pearson International Airport and prior to entering politics he worked for the National Hockey League Players' Association.
13.
Michael Chong served on the board of the Groves Memorial Hospital from 2002 to 2004, later serving on the board of the Elora Festival and Elora Festival Singers as well as the Corporation of Trinity College.
14.
Michael Chong is married to Carrie Davidson, whom he met while at university.
15.
Michael Chong has roots in both Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.
16.
Michael Chong joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the late 1980s.
17.
Michael Chong supported Peter MacKay for the leadership of the federal PC party in 2003.
18.
Michael Chong was elected in the 2004 federal election, defeating Liberal Bruce Hood by over 2,000 votes.
19.
Michael Chong declared his personal support for the Kyoto Protocol during the 2004 federal election, despite his party's opposition to the measure.
20.
Michael Chong wrote an opinion editorial for The Globe and Mail newspaper in late 2004 entitled "Canadians without hyphens", criticizing John Barber's suggestion that there were not enough Chinese-Canadian MPs representing areas with large Chinese populations.
21.
Michael Chong argued that these results reflected his idea of Canada, adding that he favoured the creation of a "common Canadian identity that will allow for greater understanding among ethnic groups".
22.
In December 2006, Michael Chong reversed his previous position and became one of thirteen Conservative MPs to vote against re-opening the marriage debate.
23.
Michael Chong has opposed using the Great Lakes as a water source for inland communities.
24.
Michael Chong has expressed concern about depopulation in rural Ontario, and supports continued door-to-door rural mail service programs.
25.
Michael Chong was the second Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister in Canadian history, after Raymond Chan.
26.
Michael Chong represented the Harper government as a representative at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.
27.
In June 2006, Michael Chong indicated that the federal government would not provide federal funding to the "Out Games", a gay-and-lesbian themed athletic competition held in Montreal, Quebec.
28.
Michael Chong has discussed the possibility of restarting Canada's ParticipACTION program, which encourages ordinary citizens to become more involved in sports and athletic events.
29.
The program was restarted in February 2007, after Michael Chong resigned from cabinet.
30.
Michael Chong pledged $3.5 million to the 2008 North American Indigenous Games in early November 2006.
31.
Michael Chong unexpectedly resigned from cabinet on November 27,2006, to express his opposition to a motion before the House of Commons, put forward by Prime Minister Harper, which recognized "the Quebecois as a nation within a united Canada".
32.
Michael Chong said that the motion was akin to ethnic nationalism, which he opposes.
33.
On May 16,2016, Michael Chong launched his campaign at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, becoming the third candidate to enter the race.
34.
Michael Chong received the support of Member of Provincial Parliament Ted Arnott and former MPs Chungsen Leung and Mike Wallace.
35.
Michael Chong is in favour of implementing what he describes as a revenue-neutral carbon tax.
36.
Michael Chong stated publicly that he supports Motion 103, which calls on the government to condemn Islamophobia in Canada and all other forms of religious and racial discrimination.
37.
Michael Chong was one of two Conservative MPs, the other being Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton, and the only leadership candidate to vote for the motion.
38.
Michael Chong served as the vice chair of the Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, whose Subcommittee on International Human Rights presented a report in March 2021 that concluded that crimes against humanity and genocide had taken place in Xinjiang.