Career
She was appointed Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development in March 2011. Chong was the British Columbia Liberal Modern Language Association for Oak Bay-Gordon Head. She was first elected in 1996 and was re-elected in 2001, 2005, and 2009.
Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Chong began her political career in 1993 as a municipal councillor for the District of Saanich.
She was awarded a Certified General Accountants-British Columbia lifetime membership in September 2014. On September 18, 2014, Chong announced her intention to run for mayor of the City of Victoria in the November 2014 municipal election which she subsequently lost, coming a distant third to new mayor, Lisa Helps and previous mayor Dean Fortin.
Chong successfully set the ballot question based on Fortin"s mishandling of the Johnson Street Bridge Replacement Project but simply did not have enough voters to make an impact. Fortin ultimately lost to Helps by a mere 89 votes.
While Chong"s running in a known left-wing municipal election after a long and successful career as a Provincial Cabinet Minister was baffling to many, the speculation is that Chong knew she could pull votes from the moderate Fortin, with a long-term strategy to strengthen the Green/Progressive vote in the region and province thus weakening the New Democratic Party by splitting the leftist vote.
University of Victoria, Board of Governors
Inaugural Member, Victoria Chinese Commerce Association
Director, Victoria Dragon Boat Festival
Chong was the subject of a Modern Language Association recall, under the British Columbia Recall and Initiative Acting. Chong was targeted for recall as part of a larger campaign opposing the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax. The recall ultimately failed, coming up short of the required signatures.
There is unverified speculation that the pressure of the recall effort was a factor in the resignation of Premier Gordon Campbell and the conversion of the Initiative Vote to a Referendum Vote under the British Columbia Referendum Acting which ultimately defeated the HST. British Columbians voted 55% in favor of extinguishing the tax and returning to the Socialist Workers Party.
