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Wendy Yuan officially joins Tory race for Steveston-Richmond East

Wendy Yuan, who wanted to run as a Liberal in the last federal election in Steveston-Richmond East, submitted her Conservative Party’s nomination application in that riding yesterday.
Wendy Yuan
Wendy Yuan is seeking the Conservative Party nomination for Steveston-Richmond East.

Wendy Yuan, who wanted to run as a Liberal in the last federal election in Steveston-Richmond East, submitted her Conservative Party’s nomination application in that riding yesterday.

"I am seeking this nomination because I fundamentally believe in what the Conservative Party of Canada stands for,” said Yuan on Tuesday.

“Currently, Steveston-Richmond East is not well served by our current Liberal MP (Joe Peschisolido) and this needs to change.”

Former Conservative candidate and software development manager Kenny Chiu announced Friday he is again seeking the party’s nomination for the same riding for the fall federal election.

Richmond resident and business owner Yuan ran for the Liberal Party in 2008 and 2011 in Vancouver-Kingsway, and she pointed out she was green lit for the party then.

But when she sought the nomination for Steveston-Richmond East, she said she was told by the party that she was “red lit.” This was after she and her volunteers had collected more than 2,000 memberships for the party in Steveston.

“We were told, sorry, you’re not green lit, (you’re) red lit,” said Yuan in a January interview.

Yuan said she was always a “blue Liberal,” and after being disappointed with Justin Trudeau’s performance, she has decided to seek the nomination to run for the Conservative Party in Steveston-Richmond East.

She said she is concerned about the deficit Trudeau is putting the country into.

“Twenty years later, our kids are going to pay for this,” she said.

She also said Trudeau is not handling the pipeline file well, saying Canada has a “piece of gold” in its natural resources, but can’t ship it anywhere.

Yuan said she joined the Liberal party under Paul Martin and she felt it was more in the centre at that point.

Yuan is the founder and president of Bradley Pacific, a company that focuses on helping sell Canadian goods and technology to world markets.

The deadline for Conservative Party members to submit their nomination application is March 15, according to the party's Electoral District Association for Steveston-Richmond East.

Members who live in the riding and have joined the party before the date can vote in the upcoming nomination meeting.