Kristyn Wong-Tam

Kristyn Wong-Tam ( zh, t=黃慧文; born ) is a Canadian politician who has represented Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 2022 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP).

They are non-binary and use they/them pronouns. They served on Toronto City Council from 2010 to 2022. Wong-Tam was first elected in 2010 Toronto election in Ward 27 Toronto Centre-Rosedale, and was subsequently re-elected following the 2014 election and 2018 election in the newly created Ward 13 Toronto Centre. Wong-Tam resigned as a Toronto city councillor in May 2022, to run as the NDP candidate in Toronto Centre for the June 2022 provincial election.

Early life and work

Born in Hong Kong and raised in a Buddhist family, they immigrated to Toronto with their family in 1975. They grew up in the Regent Park neighbourhood of Toronto, with their family settling there first before a move to the suburbs. A real estate agent and business owner, they are the former owner of a Timothy's franchise in Toronto's Church and Wellesley Village, and the owner of the KWT (formerly the XEXE) contemporary art gallery at Bathurst and Richmond Street West."Inside City Hall:The Arrival of Kristyn Wong-Tam"
. '' Toronto Standard'', July 25, 2010.

Activism

Wong-Tam came out as a lesbian in high school, at the age of 16 and has been an activist for both LGBTQ and Asian Canadian community issues, serving on the Chinese Canadian National Council and helping to found Asian Canadians For Equal Marriage and the Church and Wellesley Village's business improvement area. In 2011, they cooperated with Toronto's Lesbian Gay Bi Trans Youth Line to create an award, named in memory of Toronto artist Will Munro, to honour LGBT youth involved in community arts projects in Ontario.

Prior to the 2010 Toronto municipal election, it emerged that Wong-Tam had provided support for the political advocacy group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA). In an interview with the ''Toronto Sun'' newspaper, they said that they lent their credit card to register the group's website because no one in the group owned a credit card. Wong-Tam "listed their home address in the registration but gave the contact number as her Coldwell Banker real estate office on Yonge St." Wong-Tam was the registered owner of the site until August 31, 2010.

Political career

Rookie councillor (2010–14)

In the 2010 election, Wong-Tam ran in Ward 27 to replace Kyle Rae who had chosen to retire, defeating opponent Ken Chan in the heated race by just 400 plus votes. They were endorsed by the Toronto and York Labour Council, neighbouring councillor Adam Vaughan, street nurse Cathy Crowe and author Michele Landsberg.

In a post-election interview with the ''Toronto Sun'', Wong-Tam said that they were "really looking forward to working with the Mayor" and that they supported Mayor Rob Ford's campaign pledge to scrap the personal vehicle tax and the land transfer tax. Wong-Tam also said that they did not renew their New Democratic Party membership, saying: "I think all (council) rookies are saying the same thing – they don't want to be pigeon-holed."

Second term (2014–18)

Wong-Tam was re-elected in Ward 27 in 2014.

Third term (2018–22); defunding the police, banning feeding of pigeons, and false Covid claim

In the lead up to the 2018 Toronto municipal election, City Council approved a redrawing of municipal ward boundaries, increasing its size from 44, after an independent consultant recommended the city adopt a 47 ward system. However, the Ontario government under Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford amended the ''Municipal Elections Act'', forcing the City of Toronto to cut the number of wards from 47 to 25. There was swift reaction regarding this move from various council members, including Wong-Tam, who called the move "extremely anti-democratic" and described it "as a takeover of Toronto." Wong-Tam said in an interview "This greater concentration of power does not give and deliver better government", and "He ordwill speak in populist platitudes about saving taxpayer dollars, but it's going to come at the cost of the erosion of the democratic process."

In June 2020 they co-sponsored an unsuccessful city council motion to defund the Toronto police force by 10% (about $122 million), and use the money for community resources. Mike McCormack, president of the Toronto Police Association, said such a cut would lead at least 500 police officers losing their jobs.

In July 2021 they proposed a motion to make it illegal for residents to feed pigeons in both public and private spaces.

In November 2021, after authoring a controversial column in the ''Toronto Sun'' in which they falsely claimed that vaccinated people can transmit COVID-19 “just as easily as those who are unvaccinated,” they apologized for their mistake and said that they would not pursue another term as vice-chair of the Toronto Public Health when their current one expired the following month.

Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament; drag performers (2022–present)

On April 8, 2022, Wong-Tam and Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath announced that Wong-Tam would be the party's candidate in Toronto Centre in the June 2 election. Wong-Tam resigned from their council seat effective May 4. They won the Toronto Centre seat by more than 2,000 votes.

Wong-Tam was named the Official Opposition critic for the Attorney General and 2SLGBTQ+ Issues on July 13, 2022. They were made critic for small business on March 29, 2023.

In 2023, Wong-Tam sought greater legal protection for drag performers in Ontario. They had come to face harassment and intimidation at their shows. They introduced a private member's bill known as the "Bill 94, Keeping 2SLGBTQI+ Communities Safe Act, 2023" in April to allow the attorney general of Ontario to temporarily designate addresses, such as drag venues, as community safety zones – similar to zones which exist around abortion sites. Anti-2SLGBTQ+ harassment, intimidation or hate speech within 100 metres of a designated zone would be subject to a fine up to $25,000. Legislative Assembly of Ontario , url=https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-94

Election results

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong-Tam, Kristyn
1971 births
Living people
Businesspeople from Toronto
Canadian Buddhists
LGBTQ municipal councillors in Canada
Canadian real estate agents
Hong Kong emigrants to Canada
Hong Kong LGBTQ politicians
Hong Kong non-binary people
Toronto city councillors
Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs
Canadian LGBTQ people in provincial and territorial legislatures
Canadian LGBTQ businesspeople
Canadian non-binary politicians
21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Non-binary lesbians
21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
21st-century Canadian municipal councillors