Tany Yao
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.[1][2]
Tany Yao | |
|---|---|
| 姚泰尼 | |
 | |
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo | |
| Assumed office May 5, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Allen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1971 (age 51–52) Grand Falls, New Brunswick |
| Political party | United Conservative Party |
| Other political affiliations | Wildrose (2015–17) |
| Residence(s) | Fort McMurray, Alberta |
| Occupation | Paramedic, firefighter |
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.[3] His mother, Keiko, was a nurse within the community.[4]
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.[5] In 2016, former premier Rachel Notley named him one of the heroes of the Fort McMurray wildfires for his efforts in helping evacuees.[6]
Provincial Politics
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. The 2015 Alberta election was held on May 5, 2015. Yao defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent MLA Mike Allen.
On May 18, 2017, the Wildrose and the Progressive Conservatives announced that their two parties had come to a merger agreement and on July 22, 2017 the merger was passed with 95% support from both the PCs and the Wildrose. The merger agreement formed the United Conservative Party, a leadership election occurred on October 28, 2017, in which Jason Kenney was chosen as the leader of the UCP.[7]
Yao was the UCP's official critic on Health and Emergency Response Preparedness.[8] Yao was reelected in the 2019 Alberta general election. He endorsed Brian Jean during the 2017 UCP leadership election and again in the 2022 UCP leadership election.
Premier Danielle Smith appointed Yao to serve as parliamentary secretary for rural health under Health Minister Jason Copping on October 21, 2022.[9] Yao was challenged by Fort McMurray Construction Association president Keith Plowman and former UCP riding association board member Zulkifl Mujahid in a nomination contest. Mujahid defeated Yao on December 4, 2022, meaning Yao could no longer represent the UCP in the riding for the 2023 Alberta general election.[10]
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.[11]
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.[12] 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.[13] 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.[12]
Kenney removed Yao from the Standing Committee on Families and Communities and the Standing Committee on Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing.[12]
Electoral history
2019 general election
| 2019 Alberta general election: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| United Conservative | Tany Yao | 10,269 | 71.06% | 5.00% | ||||
| New Democratic | Stephen Drover | 3,129 | 21.65% | -8.77% | ||||
| Alberta Party | Marcus Erlandson | 804 | 5.56% | – | ||||
| Alberta Independence | Michael Keller | 249 | 1.72% | – | ||||
| Total | 14,451 | – | – | |||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 43 | 34 | 13 | |||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | 22,497 | 64.48% | 22.54% | |||||
| United Conservative hold | Swing | 6.93% | ||||||
Source(s)
Source: "61 - Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, 2019 Alberta general election". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved 21 May 2020. Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (2019). 2019 General Election. A Report of the Chief Electoral Officer. Volume II (PDF) (Report). Vol. 2. Edmonton, Alta.: Elections Alberta. pp. 275–278. ISBN 978-1-988620-12-1. Retrieved 7 April 2021. Change and swing for UCP candidate is based on the combination of Wildrose and PC candidate results. | ||||||||
2015 general election
| 2015 Alberta general election: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Wildrose | Tany Yao | 3,835 | 40.03 | -2.92 | ||||
| New Democratic | Stephen Drover | 2,915 | 30.42 | +25.37 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Mike Allen | 2,486 | 25.95 | -23.04 | ||||
| Liberal | Robin Le Fevre | 345 | 3.60 | +0.59 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 9,581 | |||||||
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | 76 | |||||||
| Eligible electors / Turnout | 22,940 | 42.10 | +7.97 | |||||
| Wildrose gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +10.06 | ||||||
Source(s)
Elections Alberta. "Electoral Division Results: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo". Retrieved 21 June 2018. | ||||||||
References
- "Alberta Votes 2015 - CBC News".
- Klinkenberg, Marty (9 May 2015). "Fresh faces in the Wildrose Opposition". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- "Consul General Torres Meets MLAs Nathan Cooper and Tany Yao".
- "Tany Yao". United Conservative Caucus. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- Yao, Tany. "Linkedin - Tany Yao". Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- "Tany Yao biography". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- Graney, Emma (19 May 2017). "Wildrose-PC members to vote on new united party July 22". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- "Tany Yao |". UCP Caucus. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- McDermott, Vincent (24 October 2022). "Jean named jobs, economy and northern development minister; Yao gets rural health role". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Cournoyer, Dave (5 December 2022). "MLA Tany Yao loses UCP nomination to Zulkifl Mujahid in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo – daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics and Elections". Daveberta. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - McDermott, Vincent (4 January 2021). "Yao travelled to Mexico during break, government unable to reach him". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
- McDermott, Vincent (5 January 2021). "Yao apologizes for Mexico trip, wanted to 'disconnect' after 2020". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
- McDermott, Vincent (6 November 2020). "Yao accuses NDP, plasma bill critics of wanting to harvest organs from people without consent". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 14 July 2022.