{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Tany Yao | native_name = {{nobold|姚泰尼}} | honorific_suffix = | image = Tany Yao Headshot.jpg | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1971}} | birth_place = Grand Falls, New Brunswick | office = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo | predecessor = Mike Allen | term_start = May 5, 2015 | term_end = | successor = | party = United Conservative Party | other_party = Wildrose (2015–2017) | occupation = Paramedic, firefighter | alma_mater = }} '''Tany Yao''' (born 1971) is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2015 and 2019 Alberta general elections to represent the electoral district of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo in the 29th and 30th Alberta Legislatures.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.cbc.ca/includes/provincialelections/albertavotes2015/dashboard/| title = Alberta Votes 2015 - CBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Klinkenberg |first=Marty |date=May 9, 2015 |title=Fresh faces in the Wildrose Opposition |url=https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/fresh-faces-in-the-wildrose-opposition |access-date=2016-05-15 |work=Edmonton Journal}}</ref>
== Background == Yao was born in Grand Falls, New Brunswick and moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta in 1977 at the age of six. His father, Joseph Yao, was originally from Cebu in the Philippines and eventually worked as a doctor in Fort McMurray.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dfa.gov.ph/dfa-news/news-from-our-foreign-service-postsupdate/14102-consul-general-torres-meets-mlas-nathan-cooper-and-tany-yao|title = Consul General Torres Meets MLAs Nathan Cooper and Tany Yao}}</ref> His mother, Keiko, was a nurse within the community.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2019-10-02 |title=Tany Yao |url=https://unitedconservativecaucus.ca/tany-yao/ |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=United Conservative Caucus |language=en-US}}</ref>
Yao graduated from Fort McMurray Composite High School in 1989 and enrolled in the EMT program at Portage College in Lac La Biche, Alberta. He studied to become a paramedic at NAIT in Edmonton, Alberta. After graduating from NAIT, Yao worked with the Alberta Central Air Ambulance in Lac La Biche before returning to Fort McMurray as a paramedic firefighter. He was involved in the effort to fight the House River Fire in 2002. In 2007, Yao worked as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Operations - EMS for the region of Wood Buffalo.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yao |first=Tany |title=Linkedin - Tany Yao |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/tany-yao-125740123/?originalSubdomain=ca |access-date=March 20, 2023}}</ref> In 2016, former premier Rachel Notley named him one of the heroes of the Fort McMurray wildfires for his efforts in helping evacuees.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tany Yao biography |url=https://www.alberta.ca/tany-yao-biography.aspx |access-date=2023-03-20 |website=www.alberta.ca |language=en-CA}}</ref>
==Political career== In late 2014 Yao considered running for office after Wildrose party was in disarray after leader Danielle Smith and eight other MLAs crossed the floor to the ruling Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta. After Brian Jean was elected as the official leader of the Wildrose Party, Yao decided to run in the riding of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, and defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent MLA Mike Allen in the 2015 Alberta election.
Yao supported Jean in the 2017 UCP leadership election, ultimately won by Jason Kenney, held after the Wildrose Party and Progressive Conservatives merged together to form the United Conservative Party. After the election, Yao was appointed the UCP's Health and Emergency Response Preparedness critic.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ucpcaucus.ca/members/tany-yao/|title=Tany Yao {{!}}|work=UCP Caucus|access-date=2018-03-14|language=en-gb}}</ref> Re-elected in 2019, Yao again supported Jean in the UCP leadership election held after Kenney's 2022 resignation. Following the election, Yao was appointed parliamentary secretary for rural health by new Premier Danielle Smith.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDermott |first=Vincent |title=Jean named jobs, economy and northern development minister; Yao gets rural health role |url=https://fortmcmurraytoday.com/news/jean-named-jobs-economy-and-northern-development-minister-yao-gets-rural-health-role |access-date=2022-12-05 |date=October 24, 2022 |website=Fort McMurray Today |language=en-CA}}</ref>
Ahead of the 2023 election, Yao was challenged by former UCP riding association board member Zulkifl Mujahid and Fort McMurray Construction Association president Keith Plowman for the UCP nomination, which Mujahid ultimately won.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cournoyer |first=Dave |date=December 5, 2022 |title=MLA Tany Yao loses UCP nomination to Zulkifl Mujahid in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo – daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics and Elections |url=https://daveberta.ca/2022/12/mla-tany-yao-loses-ucp-nomination-to-zulkifl-mujahid-in-fort-mcmurray-wood-buffalo/ |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=Daveberta |language=en-US}}</ref> After the UCP board disqualified Mujahid in April 2023, Yao was appointed the party's candidate in his place.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tany Yao running again for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo after UCP board removes candidate|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/tany-yao-running-again-for-fort-mcmurray-wood-buffalo-after-ucp-board-removes-candidate-1.6819607|website=CBC News|date=22 April 2023|access-date=23 April 2023}}</ref>
=== Travel controversy === Yao travelled to Mexico at the end of 2020 despite regulations that required Albertans to avoid non-essential travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. A spokesperson for the United Conservative Party said on Jan. 4, 2021 that Yao was unreachable and the party did not know where he was in Mexico.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDermott |first=Vincent |date=January 4, 2021 |title=Yao travelled to Mexico during break, government unable to reach him |url=https://fortmcmurraytoday.com/news/yao-travelled-to-mexico-during-break-government-unable-to-reach-him |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Fort McMurray Today |language=en-CA}}</ref>
Yao was reached by Fort McMurray Today on January 5, 2021, and said he turned his phone off upon arrival in Mexico. He said he wanted to "disconnect and clear my head" because he felt he had faced "abuse and slander in social and mainstream media" over a private member's bill he wrote.<ref name="McDermott" /> Yao was referring to a bill ending the ban on health authorities making private purchases of human blood plasma, which had been opposed by the NDP and health care groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McDermott |first=Vincent |date=November 6, 2020 |title=Yao accuses NDP, plasma bill critics of wanting to harvest organs from people without consent |url=https://fortmcmurraytoday.com/news/local-news/yao-accuses-ndp-plasma-bill-critics-of-wanting-to-harvest-organs-from-people-without-consent |access-date=2022-07-14 |website=Fort McMurray Today |language=en-CA}}</ref> He also said he believed it would be safe to travel because of the release of COVID-19 vaccines, but he said he had not yet been vaccinated when he left for Mexico.<ref name="McDermott">{{Cite web |last=McDermott |first=Vincent |date=January 5, 2021 |title=Yao apologizes for Mexico trip, wanted to 'disconnect' after 2020 |url=https://fortmcmurraytoday.com/news/local-news/yao-apologizes-for-mexico-trip-wanted-to-disconnect-after-2020 |access-date=2022-07-12 |website=Fort McMurray Today |language=en-CA}}</ref>
Kenney removed Yao from the Standing Committee on Families and Communities and the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.<ref name="McDermott"/>
==Electoral history== ===2023 general election=== {{Alberta provincial election, 2023/Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo}}
===2019 general election=== {{Alberta provincial election, 2019/Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo}}
===2015 general election=== {{CANelec/top|AB|2015|Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo|percent=yes|change=yes}} {{CANelec|AB|Wildrose|'''Tany Yao'''|3,835|40.03| -2.92}} {{CANelec|AB|NDP|Stephen Drover|2,915|30.42| +25.37}} {{CANelec|AB|PC|Mike Allen|2,486|25.95| -23.04}} {{CANelec|AB|Liberal|Robin Le Fevre|345|3.60| +0.59}} {{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|9,581}} {{CANelec/total|Rejected, spoiled and declined|76}} {{CANelec/total|Eligible electors / Turnout|22,940|42.10| +7.97}} {{CANelec/gain|AB|Wildrose|PC| +10.06}} {{CANelec/source|hide={{cite web|url=http://officialresults.elections.ab.ca/orResultsED.cfm?EventId=31&ED=59|title=Electoral Division Results: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo|author=Elections Alberta|access-date=June 21, 2018}}}} |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Alberta MLAs}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yao, Tany}} Category:Wildrose Party MLAs Category:Living people Category:1971 births Category:Canadian firefighters Category:Paramedics Category:People from Grand Falls, New Brunswick Category:People from Fort McMurray Category:Canadian people of Chinese descent Category:Canadian people of Filipino descent Category:United Conservative Party MLAs Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta