Kenny Chiu

Kenny Chiu (Chinese: 趙錦榮; born 1964 or 1965) is a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Steveston—Richmond East in the House of Commons of Canada from 2019 to 2021 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Kenny Chiu
Shadow Minister for Diversity, Inclusion and Youth
In office September 7, 2020 – September 20, 2021
Leader	Erin O'Toole
Shadowing	Bardish Chagger
Preceded by	Position established
Member of Parliament for Steveston—Richmond East
In office October 21, 2019 – August 15, 2021
Preceded by	Joe Peschisolido
Succeeded by	Parm Bains
Personal details
Born	1964 or 1965 (age 60–61) British Hong Kong
Party	Conservative
Children	2
Profession	Software engineer
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	趙錦榮
Simplified Chinese	赵锦荣
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhào Jǐnróng Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jiuh Gám-wìhng Jyutping Ziu6 Gam2-wing4

Background

Chiu was born in 1964 or 1965.^[1] He immigrated to Canada in 1982 from Hong Kong,^[2] and studied computer science at the University of Saskatchewan.^[3] Prior to entering politics, Chiu worked as a software engineer.^[4]

In 2011, Chiu was elected as a Richmond school board trustee.^[5]

Political career

Chiu ran as the Conservative candidate in the 2015 federal election for the riding of Steveston—Richmond East^[6] and was defeated by the Liberal candidate, Joe Peschisolido.^[7] He ran again in the 2019 election, this time defeating Peschisolido.^[8]

In the 2021 federal election, Chiu lost to the Liberal candidate, Parm Bains.^[9] He was an outspoken critic of Beijing’s crackdown on dissent and protest in Hong Kong, which led to a state-sponsored disinformation campaign against him contributing to his defeat.^[10][11][12] A report by Global Affairs Canada stated that Chiu was targeted by social media accounts controlled by the China News Service.^[13]

Personal life

Chiu is married and has two daughters.^[8]

Electoral record

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Steveston—Richmond East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Parm Bains	16,543	42.47	+7.36	$107,393.91
	Conservative	Kenny Chiu	13,066	33.55	–8.11	$88,909.23
	New Democratic	Jack Trovato	7,525	19.32	+4.25	$9,430.58
	People's	Jennifer Singh	955	2.45	–	$2,482.99
	Green	Françoise Raunet	860	2.21	–4.87	none listed
Total valid votes/expense limits			38,949	100.00	–	$108,448.59
Total rejected ballots			363	0.92	–0.10
Turnout			39,312	52.77	–4.17
Eligible voters			74,503
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+7.74
Source: Elections Canada[14][15][16]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Steveston—Richmond East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Kenny Chiu	17,478	41.66	+3.19	$98,603.15
	Liberal	Joe Peschisolido	14,731	35.11	-9.97	none listed
	New Democratic	Jaeden Dela Torre	6,321	15.07	+2.93	$2,143.97
	Green	Nicole Iaci	2,972	7.08	+3.41	none listed
	Independent	Ping Chan	449	1.07	–	none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit			41,951	98.98	–	105,107.07
Total rejected ballots			431	1.02	–
Turnout			42,382	56.94	–
Eligible voters			74,428
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+6.58
Source: Elections Canada[17][18][19]

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election: Steveston—Richmond East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Joe Peschisolido	19,486	45.08	+26.48	$76,684.16
	Conservative	Kenny Chiu	16,630	38.47	-15.44	$152,116.66
	New Democratic	Scott Stewart	5,248	12.14	-10.68	$12,292.51
	Green	Laura-Leah Shaw	1,587	3.67	-0.46	$1,891.69
	Libertarian	Matthew Swanston	274	0.63	–	–
Total valid votes/expense limit			43,225	99.34		$204,726.35
Total rejected ballots			287	0.66	–
Turnout			43,512	60.25	–
Eligible voters			72,225
	Liberal notional gain from Conservative		Swing		+20.96
Source: Elections Canada[20][21]