Tany Yao

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Tany Yao
姚泰尼
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Assumed office
May 5, 2015
Preceded byMike Allen
Personal details
Born1971 (age 52–53)
Grand Falls, New Brunswick
Political partyUnited Conservative Party
Other political
affiliations		Wildrose (2015–2017)
Residence(s)Fort McMurray, Alberta
OccupationParamedic, firefighter

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]

Background

Yao was born in

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]

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

United Conservative Party. After the election, Yao was appointed the UCP's Health and Emergency Response Preparedness critic.[7] 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.[8]

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.[9] After the UCP board disqualified Mujahid in April 2023, Yao was appointed the party's candidate in his place.[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

2023 general election

2023 Alberta general election: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
United Conservative Tany Yao 6,483 67.7 -3.36
New Democratic Tanika Chaisson 1,884 19.7 -1.95
Independent Funky Banjoko 625 6.5 –
Independent Zulkifl Mujahid 331 3.5 –
Alberta Party Bradley Friesen 255 2.7 -2.86
Total 10,455 100 –
Rejected and declined 86 0.5
Turnout 9,578 41.60
Eligible voters 23,219
United Conservative hold Swing -1.41
Source(s)
Source: Elections Alberta[14]

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.
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

  1. ^ "Alberta Votes 2015 - CBC News".
  2. ^ Klinkenberg, Marty (9 May 2015). "Fresh faces in the Wildrose Opposition". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  3. ^ "Consul General Torres Meets MLAs Nathan Cooper and Tany Yao".
  4. ^ "Tany Yao". United Conservative Caucus. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  5. ^ Yao, Tany. "Linkedin - Tany Yao". Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Tany Yao biography". www.alberta.ca. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Tany Yao |". UCP Caucus. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ "Tany Yao running again for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo after UCP board removes candidate". CBC News. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  11. ^ McDermott, Vincent (4 January 2021). "Yao travelled to Mexico during break, government unable to reach him". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  12. ^ a b c McDermott, Vincent (5 January 2021). "Yao apologizes for Mexico trip, wanted to 'disconnect' after 2020". Fort McMurray Today. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "61 - Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo". officialresults.elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
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