Gabriel Yiu
Encyclopedia
Gabriel Yiu is an award-winning journalist, social activist and small business owner in Vancouver.

Background

Yiu was born and educated in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

. He worked in his father’s trading business before becoming the administrator of an arts institution. He went on to become administrator of an independent organization specializing in the study and critique of Hong Kong’s arts and cultural policies. Yiu was a fellow of the Asian Cultural Council and a respected figure in the arts community.

Immigrating to Canada in 1991, Yiu and wife Angela started what is now a successful floral business in Vancouver.

TIME featured Gabriel as one of the six “People to Watch” in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

. He received the Cultural Harmony Award from the City of Vancouver.

Yiu has served on numerous boards: International Centre for Asian Contemporary Arts, The Dance Centre, JumpStart Performing Society, BC Newspaper Foundation, La Salle Old Boys’ Association, Vancouver Hong Kong Forum Society. He is an advisor to the UBC Museum of Anthropology.

Media career

An award-winning journalist in the Chinese media, Yiu was assignment editor of Ming Pao Daily’s weekend magazine, and later columnist for the Vancouver Sun, also serving on the newspaper’s community editorial board. He has written columns for many newspapers and magazines, including Vancouver Sun, Business in Vancouver, Ming Pao
Ming Pao
Ming Pao is a Chinese language newspaper published by Ming Pao Group in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America, each provides independent reporting on local news and collect local advertisements. Currently, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming...

, World Journal
World Journal
World Journal is a daily Chinese language newspaper serving overseas Chinese in North America. The newspaper has its headquarters in Whitestone, Queens, New York City....

and Global Chinese Press, and hosted popular television and radio shows for local Chinese stations.

Political career

A community activist, Yiu fought for Chinese Head Tax redress and against the closure of Mount St. Joseph Hospital’s emergency room. He successfully campaigned against the federal government’s Bill C-51, which would regulate natural health product and traditional Chinese medicine as pharmaceutical drugs. Together with MLA Jenny Kwan, he campaigned to have China’s Kaiping Watchtower recognized as a world heritage site.

Yiu was a prominent organizer in the anti-HST campaign, that successfully fought for the repeal of the Harmonized Sales Tax in British Columbia.

In 2005, Yiu was the BC NDP candidate in Burnaby-Willingdon, where he was narrowly defeated by John Nuraney
John Nuraney
John Nuraney is a Canadian politician, formerly a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He represented the riding of Burnaby-Willingdon from 2001 to 2009....

.

In 2009, Yiu was the BC NDP candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview
Vancouver-Fraserview
Vancouver-Fraserview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :- Geography :...

, where he was defeated by BC Liberal candidate and former Police Chief Kash Heed
Kash Heed
Kash P. Heed is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election, representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview....

. Kash Heed
Kash Heed
Kash P. Heed is a Canadian politician, who was elected as a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2009 provincial election, representing the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview....

 was later fined $8,000 for an Elections Act violation for over-spending the campaign limit and two other individuals in the Liberal campaign were found guilty of violations of the Elections Act.

In 2011, Yiu won the BC NDP nomination to represent Vancouver-Fraserview
Vancouver-Fraserview
Vancouver-Fraserview is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.- Demographics :- Geography :...

again in the next provincial election.

External links

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