The first political jockeying for position has been made in the new federal riding of Steveston-Richmond East.
On Friday, current Richmond Board of Education trustee Kenny Chiu was officially named as the Conservative Party of Canada’s candidate in the newly created Steveston-Richmond East riding for next year's federal election, scheduled for Oct. 19.
Chiu inherits a race that, judging by history, is his to lose; Steveston hasn't seen a non-conservative representing its interests in over 50 years.
Chiu, who went uncontested among the Conservative ranks, is the first candidate selected among the major political parties; Liberal, NDP and Green Party riding association representatives told the Richmond News a decision on their candidates can be expected as early as late October.
Wendy Yuan and Joe Peschisolido have already shown interest in the Liberal candidacy, according to Peter Xie, the party’s president for the riding.
Chiu is a long time Richmond resident and a software engineering professional.
"I firmly believe in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's strong, stable leadership and our Conservative government's steadfast focus on the priorities of Canadians, like more jobs, less taxes and growing the economy," said Chiu in a press release.
He is also a director with the municipal political party Richmond Community Coalition. He's acted as a guest host as a federal political pundit for local Chinese media organizations.
The riding of Delta-Richmond East was split into Steveston-Richmond East and Delta for the upcoming election. The border between Richmond West and Steveston-Richmond East will run east along Steveston Highway, north along No. 3 Road, east along Westminster Highway and north again along No. 4 Road to the Oak Street Bridge.
From 2004 up until now Delta-Richmond East has always been a Conservative stronghold represented by MP John Cummins from 2004 to 2011 and MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay ever since.
The last time Steveston was represented by a non-conservative political party was in 1972 under the Liberal Party with MP Thomas Goode representing the Burnaby-Richmond riding (after winning the 1968 election).
From 1972 to 1993 Progressive Conservative MP's John Reynolds, Tom Siddon and Stan Wilbee represented Steveston in various ridings.
From 1993 to 2011 Cummins represented Steveston as a member of the Reform Party, Conservative Alliance as well as the Conservative Party.
Siddon was a minister for DFO while Cummins was a former commercial fisherman. Findlay is a lawyer.
In June, when Chiu announced his intentions, he said his platform will be decidedly focused on economic growth.
"We're enjoying peace and prosperity that is not guaranteed. Canada is a strong economic power but that needs to continue," he said.
When asked if he supports the Enbridge pipeline, Chiu said: "I support sustainable economic growth. ...And we need to do business with the world."
When asked about his position on abortion, Chiu said: "I think the country can use more debate on the issue. It's a personal conscious decision. Personally, I would never outlaw abortion," he said, adding he supports more programs and support for women considering abortion.
When asked for his opinion on global warming, Chiu said the best term to use is, in fact, "climate change." He said it is his understanding not all parts of the planet are warming.
"The question is, how much is climate change attributed to human activities?" asked Chiu, noting he's a "pragmatic environmentalist."
As it relates to Steveston, Chiu was asked about his opinion on years of cuts to Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Environment Canada. "A lot of the time we commit the fallacy of equating effectiveness with more money. That may not necessarily be the case," he said.
Chiu said his parents escaped communist China and moved to Hong Kong.
He said Canada must take a soft-stance on China vis-à-vis human rights.
"I would definitely like to see China improve on that but it's an important player in the 21st century. It's in Canada's interest to engage. Engagement is the only way to keep them opening themselves up. There's a fine balance we need to strike and Canada needs to keep bringing up the issue of human rights with Chinese leadership," he said, noting a purely confrontational stance is not advisable.
“I think the Harper government has learned that lesson. The upfront confrontational approach didn’t work,” said Chiu.
However, he said he agreed with Harper’s hard-lined stance against Russia for invading Ukraine.
Asked what he thought about China building islands off the Pacific to contest Japanese claims, Chiu repeated that engagement with China is necessary.
Steveston representation since World War II:
Burnaby-Richmond riding:
1949: Tom Goode, Liberal
1953: Tom Goode, Liberal
1957: Thomas Irwin, Social Credit
1958: John Drysdale, Progressive Conservative
1962: Bob Prittie, New Democratic
1963: Bob Prittie, New Democratic
1965: Bob Prittie, New Democratic
1968: Thomas Goode, Liberal
1972: John Reynolds, Progressive Conservative
1974: John Reynolds, Progressive Conservative
1978: Tom Siddon, Progressive Conservative
Richmond-South Delta riding:
1979: Tom Siddon, Progressive Conservative
1980: Tom Siddon, Progressive Conservative
1984: Tom Siddon, Progressive Conservative
Delta riding:
1988: Stan Wilbee, Progressive Conservative
1993: John Cummins, Reform
Delta-Richmond South riding:
1997: John Cummins, Reform
2000: John Cummins, Canadian Alliance
Delta-Richmond East riding:
2004: John Cummins, Conservative
2006: John Cummins, Conservative
2008: John Cummins, Conservative
2011: Kerry Lynne-Findlay, Conservative
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