Tony Wong

Tony C. Wong (Wong Chi-wah or 黃志華, Hanyu Pinyin: Huáng Zhìhuá, Cantonese Yale: Wong4 Ji3Wa4) (1948-June 17, 2009) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the Greater Toronto Area riding of Markham for the Liberal Party. He was elected as York Region Councillor in November 2006.

Early years

Born in Hong Kong, Wong studied at the University of San Diego and later settle in Canada. Wong has a Bachelor's degree in math and Master's in computer science from the University of Missouri. He was a lawyer (University of Toronto) and founding director of the Metropolitan Toronto Southeast Asian Legal Clinic. He has a legal practice, Wong and Wong. He served as the Markham representative on the York Region Health and Emergency Medical Services Committee, and has been a board member of the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation, the St. John's Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation and the York Region Police Services Board.

Political career

Wong began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a regional councillor for Markham from 1997 to 2003. 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. 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, a prominent cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. 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 benefitted from a large Chinese immigrant population in the riding.

The Liberals won the provincial election, and Wong was subsequently named parliamentary assistant to Joseph Cordiano, the Ontario 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 press.

On September 25, 2006, Wong resigned his seat in the legislature to run for York Regional Council and won a seat 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.^[1] He is survived by his wife Ellee and daughter Daphne.^[2]

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