{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Henry Yao | native_name = {{nobold|姚君憲}} | native_name_lang = zh-tw | honorific_suffix = | image = Henry Yao.png | assembly = British Columbia Legislative | constituency_AM = Richmond South Centre | term_start = October 24, 2020 | term_end = September 21, 2024 | predecessor = Linda Reid | successor = Hon Chan<br><small>(Richmond Centre)</small> | party = New Democratic | other_party = RITE Richmond | birth_name = Jiun-Hsien Yao<ref name="RN140918">{{Cite news|last=Wood|first=Graeme|title=Henry Yao vows spending cuts on council|url=https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/henry-yao-vows-spending-cuts-on-council-2985540|access-date=2023-02-27|date=2014-09-18|website=Richmond News}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|11|1990}}<ref name="RN150625">{{Cite news|last=Wood|first=Graeme|title=Coffee with: Henry Yao a keen observer|url=https://www.richmond-news.com/in-the-community/coffee-with-henry-yao-a-keen-observer-3013749|access-date=2023-02-27|date=2015-06-25|website=Richmond News}}</ref> | birth_place = Taiwan | occupation = | alma_mater = University of British Columbia | module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes| |c = |t = 姚君憲 |s = 姚君宪 |p = Yáo Jūnxiàn |y = |j = }} | caption = Yao in 2020 }}
'''Henry Jiun-Hsien Yao''' ({{lang-zh|t=姚君憲|s=姚君宪|first=t}}) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election.<ref name="RN201107">{{Cite news|last=Rantanen|first=Maria|title=Update: NDP secures third provincial seat in Richmond|url=https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/update-ndp-secures-third-provincial-seat-in-richmond-3144719|access-date=2023-02-27|date=2020-11-07|website=Richmond News}}</ref> He represented the electoral district of Richmond South Centre as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP). He was defeated in the 2024 British Columbia general election running in Richmond Centre.
==Biography== Born in Taiwan, Yao immigrated to Canada at the age of 11, settling in Richmond, British Columbia.<ref name="RN200928">{{Cite news|last=Shen|first=Nono|title=Updated: Richmond activist Henry Yao to run for the NDP|url=https://www.richmond-news.com/in-the-community/updated-richmond-activist-henry-yao-to-run-for-the-ndp-3128164|access-date=2023-02-27|date=2020-09-28|website=Richmond News}}</ref> After graduating from Matthew McNair Secondary School, he studied at the University of British Columbia, from which he received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology.<ref name="RN141007">{{Cite news|title=Candidate bio - Henry Yao|url=https://www.richmond-news.com/richmond-votes-archive/candidate-bio-henry-yao-2986588|access-date=2023-02-27|date=2014-10-07|website=Richmond News}}</ref> He was diagnosed with two types of lymphoma in 2004;<ref name="RN141007"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Candidate Profiles: Richmond General Local and School Election 2014 |publisher=City of Richmond |url=https://www.richmond.ca/__shared/assets/List_of_Declared_Candidates_-_Councillor_Candidate_Profiles39850.PDF |access-date=2023-02-27 }}</ref> after his cancer went into remission, he pursued a career in youth work.<ref name="RS201126">{{cite news |title=Meet your MLAs: Henry Yao (Richmond South Centre) |first=Don |last=Fennell |publisher=Richmond Sentinel |date=2020-11-26 |url=https://richmondsentinel.ca/article-detail/11241/meet-your-mlas-henry-yao-richmond-south-centre |access-date=2023-02-27 }}</ref>
He ran for Richmond City Council twice: the first time in 2014 as an independent candidate,<ref name="RN150625"/> then in 2018 as part of RITE Richmond.<ref name="RN180615">{{Cite news|last=Kotyk|first=Alyse|title=RITE Richmond announces slate for October election|url=https://www.richmond-news.com/election-2018-archive/rite-richmond-announces-slate-for-october-election-3077559|access-date=2023-02-27|date=2018-06-15|website=Richmond News}}</ref> Both attempts were unsuccessful.<ref name="RN200928"/>
In the 2020 provincial election, Yao ran in the riding of Richmond South Centre as an NDP candidate, against Alexa Loo of the Liberals. He defeated Loo by a margin of 179 votes, becoming a member of the Legislative Assembly.<ref name="RN201107"/><ref name="CBC201107">{{Cite news|last=Larsen|first=Karin|title=Projected Green seat flipped to Liberals following tightest race in B.C.|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/green-liberal-seat-flip-tightest-b-c-race-1.5794297|access-date=2023-02-27|date=2020-11-07|website=CBC News}}</ref>
==Electoral record==
=== Provincial elections === {{2024 British Columbia general election/Richmond Centre}}{{British Columbia provincial election, 2020/Richmond South Centre}}
=== Municipal elections === '' Top 8 candidates elected — Incumbents marked with "(X)". Elected members' names are in '''bold''' ''
{| class="wikitable" |+2018 British Columbia municipal elections: Richmond City Council ! colspan="2" | Party ! Council candidate ! Vote ! % |- |style="background:#472D8C;" width="30px"| | RITE Richmond || '''Carol Day''' (X) || 20,871 || 7.01 |- |style="background:#002F6C;" width="30px"| | Richmond Citizens' Association || '''Harold Steves''' (X) || 19,136 || 6.43 |- |style="background:#1F4991;" width="30px"| | Richmond Community Coalition || '''Chak Au''' (X) || 18,026 || 6.05 |- |style="background:#00945B;" width="30px"| | Richmond First || '''Bill McNulty''' (X) || 17,242 || 5.79 |- |style="background:#002F6C;" width="30px"| | Richmond Citizens' Association || '''Kelly Greene''' || 16,464 || 5.53 |- |style="background:#00945B;" width="30px"| | Richmond First || '''Linda McPhail''' (X) || 15,521 || 5.21 |- |style="background:#472D8C;" width="30px"| | RITE Richmond || '''Michael Wolfe''' || 13,627 || 4.58 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||'''Alexa Loo''' (X) || 13,212 || 4.44 |- |style="background:#00945B;" width="30px"| | Richmond First ||Derek Dang (X) || 13,115 || 4.40 |- |style="background:#00945B;" width="30px"| | Richmond First ||Andy Hobbs|| 12,336 || 4.14 |- |style="background:#002F6C;" width="30px"| | Richmond Citizens' Association ||Judie Schneider|| 11,672 || 3.92 |- |style="background:#1F4991;" width="30px"| | Richmond Community Coalition || Ken Johnston (X) || 11,161 || 3.75 |- |style="background:#1F4991;" width="30px"| | Richmond Community Coalition || Jonathan Ho|| 11,140 || 3.74 |- |style="background:#002F6C;" width="30px"| | Richmond Citizens' Association ||Jack Trovato|| 10,915 || 3.67 |- |style="background:#00945B;" width="30px"| | Richmond First ||Sunny Ho|| 8,933 || 3.00 |- |style="background:#472D8C;" width="30px"| | RITE Richmond ||Niti Sharma|| 8,917 || 2.99 |- |style="background:#472D8C;" width="30px"| | RITE Richmond ||Henry Yao|| 8,467 || 2.84 |- |style="background:#00945B;" width="30px"| | Richmond First ||Peter Liu|| 8,357 || 2.81 |- |style="background:#1F4991;" width="30px"| | Richmond Community Coalition || Parm Bains|| 7,973 || 2.68 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||John Roston|| 7,961 || 2.67 |- |style="background:#1F4991;" width="30px"| | Richmond Community Coalition || Melissa Zhang|| 7,708 || 2.38 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Kerry Starchuk|| 6,959|| 2.34 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Jason Tarnow|| 5,720 || 1.92 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Adil Awan|| 4,278 || 1.44 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Manjit Singh|| 4,134 || 1.39 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Dennis Page|| 3,478 || 1.17 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Andy Chiang|| 3,337 || 1.12 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Theresa Head|| 3,251 || 1.09 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Patrick J. Saunders|| 2,241 || 0.75 |- |style="background:gainsboro" width="30px"| | Independent ||Zhe Zhang|| 2,241 || 0.75 |}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Henry}} Category:British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Taiwanese emigrants to Canada Category:People from Richmond, British Columbia Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent Category:University of British Columbia Faculty of Arts alumni Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
{{NDP-BritishColumbia-MLA-stub}}