Background
Denise Chong was born on June 9, 1953 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in the family of John and Hing Chong. Denise was raised in Prince George.
Denise Chong was born on June 9, 1953 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in the family of John and Hing Chong. Denise was raised in Prince George.
Denise studied economics at the University of British Columbia earning her bachelor's degee in 1975. She received an Master of Arts from the University of Toronto in 1978.
Chong's career as an economist began when she moved to Ottawa to work in the Department of Finance, where she was employed until 1980. She then worked for one year as a special advisor in the Prime Minister's Office, dealing with issues pertaining to British Columbia. In 1981 she became a senior economic advisor and worked closely with the late Pierre Elliot Trudeau until the end of his term in 1984. Denise Chong's career in the Canadian government is made even more significant with her realization, through her familial and historical research, that her "grandparents lived in Canada at a time when they could not participate in White society. They were excluded from it: they could not take out citizenship, they couldn't own land, they couldn't vote." With the end of Trudeau's term in 1984, Denise Chong left her role as a public servant in order to pursue a career as a professional writer.
Though her professional writing career did not begin until much later, Denise Chong was a journalist for the Ubyssey, a student newspaper at UBC, while she was an undergraduate student there.
Denise married a Canadian Television Network journalist Roger Smith. She is the mother of two children, Jade and Kai.