Chinese-Canadian voters key demographic in elections

Chinese-Canadian voters 

 

key demographic in elections

October 17, 2015

Canada is just days away from holding elections in a close race that analysts say could see Prime Minister Stephen Harper kicked out of office. Chinese-Canadians may play a part in that.

• There are 1.5 million Canadians with Chinese origins, in country of 35 million people. About a third of Chinese-Canadians live in the Greater Toronto Area where they make-up one of the largest minority groups. Their vote could potentially make – or break – a candidate.
• Geng Tan moved to Canada from China’s Hunan province nearly 20 years ago. He’s a Liberal Party candidate running for parliament in a Toronto district also known as a “riding”that has one of the highest populations of Chinese-Canadians.
• Olivia Chow is among the country’s most well-known Chinese-Canadian faces and she’s running with the New Democratic Party in a tight race to represent Toronto’s Spadina-Fort York riding in one of the closest watched campaigns in this election.
• Prime Minister Stephen Harper is seeking a fourth term. Earlier this month, he told Chinese-Canadian voters in Vancouver that his Conservative Party is their natural home. A Chinese-language version of his party’s website aims at delivering the same message.
• However some Chinese-Canadian activists note that the Harper government recently introduced tougher language requirements for would-be citizens. For some, the move echoed now-outdated laws that once blocked, or limited, immigration from China.