-- Download Wendy Yuan: The Next David Emerson for Vancouver-Kingsway as PDF --
So it turns out that in the tradition of Liberal candidates in Vancouver-Kingsway, like David Emerson’s lack of commitment to the riding, the new Liberal candidate, Wendy Yuan, does not live in the riding, though her campaign claims she does.
Perhaps it was an error by anonymous correspondent on her campaign team to email me [above] with confirmation that she lives in the riding. Or maybe she’s just another inauthentic constituency “representative.”
NDP candidate Don Davies reported yesterday that she lives in Richmond and has not denied his repeated claims that she does not live in the riding:
Davies said that although Wendy Yuan, a long-time resident of Richmond, last year claimed that it’s not important for an MP to live in the riding, the Yuan campaign office now says she is a resident of Vancouver Kingsway.
According to land title records as of February 1, 2008, Ms Yuan and her husband are the registered owners of a home in Richmond. Documents further show that Ms Yuan re-mortgaged this property in April, 2007. As of February 6, 2008, there is no record that they own a home in Vancouver.
“We also searched on-line telephone and address directories. We can find no record of any residence attributed to Ms Yuan in the riding,” said Davies.
“I think Ms Yuan has some explaining to do: where does she live? Does she live in Vancouver Kingsway or not? If so, why has she kept her residence in Richmond?” Davies asked.
“Before [the last election], Ms Yuan stepped aside so Paul Martin could appoint Mr. Emerson as the candidate. Her personal reward was an appointment by the former prime minister as a representative on trade issues in Asia,” said Davies.
“[She and Emerson] both came out ahead personally, while voters who cast – or wanted to cast – their ballots in good faith were betrayed.
“Now, we see Ms Yuan trying to fool the voters into thinking she lives in Vancouver Kingsway – which is either directly untrue, or without telling them she retains her main residence in Richmond.
Meanwhile on Wendy Yuan’s website we read all sorts of feel-good statements about representative democracy.
As a Chinese Canadian woman and as an immigrant who came to Canada twenty-three years ago, I feel that Canada has given me so much and it’s high time for me to give something back to this great country of ours by serving the people and making a difference. And a great way to do this of course is to work with all of you and the residents of Vancouver Kingsway so that together we can build a more just, a more prosperous and a greener Canada.
“All of you and the residents of Vancouver Kingsway,” not all of “us.”
Yes, I am relatively new to politics, but I am ready to bring a fresh approach to the residents of Vancouver Kingsway.
Again, no mention of belonging to the community, just a group of people she will service. And it’s not that fresh approach if her style of honesty and full disclosure is similar to Emerson’s–that’s just cynical.
I am ready to listen to you and deal with the real issues and I want to prove to you that we as Liberals are here for the long haul. I believe that the Liberal Party’s principles, its core values and its vision are the means to build a stronger community in Vancouver Kingsway and indeed, a stronger Canada.
It’s too bad that the Liberals define long haul by sending in a candidate from another city. Are there no quality Liberal candidates who actually live in our riding?
My first responsibility will be to represent you and all the residents in this constituency. I will keep my promises to you and I will hold myself accountable if given the honour to work for the people of Vancouver Kingsway. As we get ready for the next election I will continue to knock on doors, engage with people, and learn more about how we can work together to address our concerns and aspirations.
Again, “this” constituency, not “our.” “Our” concerns and aspirations? Would those be the concerns of Richmond residents?
I will use my skills in international business to contribute to Canada’s success in the Pacific Rim and my experience as a working parent, an immigrant and a woman to address the issues and challenges that we face in our riding.
Well, now it’s “our” riding. Unless she can demonstrates that she lives in our riding, this is an unacceptable word.
Before I ask you for your support and for your vote, I say let me earn it first. I invite you to engage with me in our democratic process, to participate in discussions and concrete actions that will help turn a new page in Vancouver Kingsway’s diverse and growing neighbourhoods and communities.
Well, I engaged with her by asking if she lives in the riding. She says she does, but the evidence contradicts that.
When her campaign office calls me back to explain their email to me from December and try to prove to me that she lives in the riding, I’ll update this post.
And here’s the update. An email came in with an attached pdf of her Hydro bill. Her personal information was blacked out at the source. I purpled out her account number and meter number, which are none of anyone’s business anyway:
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It’s another case of some white guys thinking they can just lie through their teeth to get what they want by damaging the reputation of an excellent ethnic female candidate, as like what Don Davies did to Alicia Barsallo during the nomination.
Wendy Yuan is living in my building near Joyce station which is part of Kingsway riding. We met in the elevator sever times and she seems very nice lady although I am not fan of Liberal party.
It’s time for NDP to face the truth and be honest about it.
yes, wouldn’t it be great if she lives in the riding!
I’m not sure what statement anywhere is a lie, which would be an intentional fabrication based on knowing something to be true yet saying the opposite.
i have no idea how excellent a candidate she would make or whether she’s a nice lady.
my skin colour has nothing to do with my problems with David Emerson; nor does it affect my concerns about Wendy Yuan.
Straight up, I am living in Quadra.
How can any sane person make a conclusion based on Land Title Office record and phone record?
I am living with my girlfriend in her parents’ basement. I don’t own any property in Vancouver or anywhere for that matter and all the bills are under her parent’s name (Jack: really appreciated). Does that make me homeless as there wont’ be any record to show me living in Vancouver?
Don Davies’s Press Release is retarded, so is your blog.
These comments are absurd – and defensive. Of course, if I were trying to mislead the people of Vancouver Kingsway like Wendy Yuan is, I’d be upset too.
FACT: Wendy Yuan lives in Richmond.
FACT: She confirmed she lives in Richmond throughout 2007.
FACT: Yuan re-mortgaged her house in Richmond for 5 more years in Spring, 2007 – yes, until 2012.
FACT: We have been making an issue of the fact she didn’t live in the riding for many months – and Yuan knows this charge resonates with voters.
FACT: She just rented an apartment in late 2007 – so she can claim she “lives” in VKingsway. No phone land line – and she released a Hydro bill that had the amounts BLACKED OUT!! (I guess it would have showed she wasn’t really using any utilities).
FACT: She DOES have a land line in Richmond – so cut the crap of “many people don’t have land lines”.
FACT: Yuan does not authentically live in Kingsway – although she is trying to mislead people that she does.
FACT: Yes, many people live in rented basement suites in Kingsway – but not many ALSO own 2500 square feet houses in swanky neighbourhoods in Richmond at the same time! Perhaps you could name a few?
FACT: If Yuan wants to be honest – she should tell people she maintains her house in Richmond, and has rented a pad in Kingsway. Then let people make up their mind about her real connection to Kingsway.
The only thing damaging to the Liberals in Kingsway is the truth.
They should try telling it sometime.
I have some deep concerns over Wendy as well. I don’t think she’s been honest on many things. She actually has very close tie with the Chinese consulate…… I’d elect anyone but Wendy Yuan.
Here’s a letter from a concerned ex-pat. I agree that too many Wendies in Ottawa could create a huge problem not only for ex pats but for the rest of us Canadians who cherish freedom of speech/expression and most of all democracy untainted with the Chinese regime’s deviated fascist values.
Is Wendy Yuan a Liberal or a Mouthpiece for the Communist regime?
Letter published In the Dajiyuan
Author: Xiangyun Li
Last Sunday my wife and I went to the Crystal Mall to watch a federal election debate. As landed immigrants for some time, we were curious to have a taste of democracy and freedom. To my great surprise, Wendy Yuan, the Liberal candidate for Vancouver-Kingsway, made a remark that knocked me off as she sounded like a communist official in China.
During the question period, a woman asked about the persecution of Falun Gong. She said that Honourable David Klgour and human rights lawyer David Matas investigated the removal of organs from Falun Gong practitioners. What they have done represents the Canadian values of respecting human rights and cherishing lives. She asked what measures would each candidate take, if elected, to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong?
The conservative and NDP candidates both said they stand for human rights but the Liberal candidate Wendy Yuan made a surprising assertion: “Prime Ministers Martin and Chretien visited China many times. I heard with my own ears when they raised human rights issues to the Chinese leaders. China’s human rights are a problem. But your question is about Falun Gong issue. Our Canadian position is that we don not interfere with another country’s internal affair.”
If Wendy is a Chinese communist, what she said is expected. However, she claims that she has lived in Canada for more than 20 years. She is also now a candidate for the biggest opposition party in Canada. How come she has a Chinese dictator’s mindset?
Wendy classifies Falun Gong issue as non-human rights and labels it as China’s internal affair. Let me ask Wendy, isn’t it a human right issue when the Chinese regime forbids Falun Gong group to have freedom of belief, when it defames, insults, and tortures them, and detains them without a legal procedure? The Chinese regime has an absurd definition that “human rights are rights to an existence”. Over 3,000 verified death cases of Falun Gong practitioners have been filed with the UN, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Even according to the regime’s definition, aren’t these cases an issue of human rights?
Let me ask Wendy Yuan, when you went with the Prime Minister to China and raised human rights issues, was it interfering with China’s internal affairs? Why would raising Falun Gong issue be interfering? As early as 2002 the Canadian Parliament unanimously adopted the motion to support Falun Gong. Was it an interference with China’s internal affairs on the part of MPs?
Let me ask Wendy, Canada is a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international treaties. By rights and by Canadian traditional commitment to justice, Canada has responsibilities to step forward to urge for an end to the brutal persecution of Falun Gong. An MP candidate who is not aware of this is unqualified to serve Canadians. Should Wendy go to Ottawa, it would be a misfortune for Vancouver-Kingsway. Should more Wendies be in Ottawa, it would be a disaster for Canada.
Wendy maybe smart in business but unable to distinguish human rights versus internal affairs. She claims to serve Canadians but serves as China’s mouthpiece. Let me give Wendy some reference: Yang Ailun, a NY State Congress woman lost her re-election campaign in a seemingly winning situation because she chose to befriend the Chinese regime, and she is subject to judicial investigation; in China the momentum has been one for quitting the communist party and protests take place in growing numbers and size. The overturn of the communist throne can happen any time. Wendy, take care not to be doomed with the Chinese regime.
Here’s an interesting news about Wendy Yuan:
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/25829/42/
Liberal Wendy Yuan’s view on Falun Gong Consistent with Chinese Regime
CIPFG Calls on Dion to Reject Wendy Yuan’s view vis-a-vis Falun Gong akin to that of the Chinese regime
Vancouver – At an all candidate debate in Vancouver-Kingsway riding, organized by Chinese Radio AM 1320 on October 4, 2008, Liberal Party candidate Wendy Yuan, speaking of Liberal Party policy regarding the rights abuses against Falun Gong in China, stated that “for Falun Gong, our policy is not to interfere in other country’s internal affairs”; all the remaining candidates spoke in favour of protecting the basic rights of Falun Gong practitioners.
Clive Ansley, Chairman of the CIPFG, Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, is demanding that Liberal Party Leader Stephane Dion disassociate the Liberal Party from Wendy Yuan’s indefensible position which in effect holds that the torture, genocide, and mass murder of Falun Gong practitioners for the purpose of harvesting their organs are internal Chinese issues, and that Liberal Party policy is to turn a blind eye toward these atrocities.
Ansley stated that “Human Rights are universal and non-partisan. It was shocking to hear from Ms. Yuan that the Liberal policy toward genocide, torture, and murder for the theft of organs is to cooperate with the Chinese Communist Party’s cover-up of its crimes. Under International Law, Human Rights abuses and Crimes Against Humanity can never be considered the internal affairs of any sovereign state. No state is permitted, under International Law, to violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention Against Torture, or the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity. It is imperative that Stephan Dion, in the light of Ms. Yuan’s troubling statement, make absolutely clear whether the Liberal Party stands on the side of International Law or on the side of the Chinese Communist Party ( the most prolific perpetrator of Crimes Against Humanity in this era).”
“We have written to Dion and still await his reply,” said Sue Zhang of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada.
Background: What is happening to Falun Gong in China
Falun Gong is a spiritual practice based on principles of “Truth-Compassion-Forbearance” and five sets of gentle exercises and meditation. It was widely accepted in China before 1999 when the persecution started because of Falun Gong’s popularity. The CCP leader at the time, Jiang Zemin, declared that the CCP must defeat Falun Gong.
For the past nine years, the persecution of Falun Gong has been a crucial and essential part of the ubiquitous Human Rights abuses in China which are now endemic across the nation. UN Special Rapporteur Manfred Nowak reaffirmed in his 2007 report that Falun Gong practitioners account for 66 % of torture victims in government custody. US State Department annual reports confirm that Falun Gong adherents constitute at least half the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in reeducation-through-labour camps, while the real number likely is much higher.
The Hon. David Kilgour, former Liberal MP, and Mr. David Matas, renowned human rights lawyer, concluded in their independent investigation report that “there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners” by the “the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country”; “the widespread killing of Falun Gong practitioners for profit to provide organs for transplants is “so shocking that it represents a new form of evil on this planet.”
The Falun Dafa Information Center has documented more than 3,100 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners while undergoing torture. Many more cases of detention and death remain unreported, as the Chinese regime imposes an information blockade, and reporting these cases to outside authorities constitutes a severe “crime” of “leaking state secrets.” Documentation is notoriously difficult in China and the real number of practitioners murdered by the Chinese Communist Party almost certainly numbers in the tens of thousands.
Millions upon millions of Falun Gong practitioners have lost their jobs, housing, education, and all basic rights and have been incarcerated and tortured for refusing to give up their beliefs. No lawyer is allowed to defend them. Lawyer Gao Zhisheng, “the conscience of Chinese lawyers,” lost his licence to practise, his law firm was shut down, and he was himself incarcerated for defending a Falun Gong practitioner, and for writing to Chinese leaders calling for an end to the persecution.
Persecution affects Canadians
The persecution also affects Canadians. Currently, thirteen family members of Canadians are currently incarcerated in China for their belief in Falun Gong. Yue Yao, wife of Canadian resident Wenyu Liu in Calgary, is one of 12 jailed practitioners with Canadian ties. In 2001 Ms. Yao was sentenced to 12 years in prison for downloading information from Falun Gong websites and printing leaflets for distribution. Mr. Jian Ma, husband of Ms. Yao Lian in Montreal, is currently serving 2.5 years in forced labor camp for having Falun Gong-related documents at his home.