David Hui Xiao (born November 17, 1960) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

businessman and politician. From 2008 to 2015 he was Member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

, representing the constituency of

Edmonton-McClung Edmonton-McClung is a provincial electoral district in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The district was created in 1993 and is named after Nellie McClung. The current MLA is Lorne Dach of the NDP, who was first elected in 2015. History The elec ...

as a Progressive Conservative.

Early life

Xiao was born in

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in southwest China. His father was an accountant in the coal mining industry and his mother was a teacher. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from the Beijing Second Foreign Language University, Xiao began working as a translator and eventually got into business, which gave him the opportunity to travel to Canada. He moved his family to Edmonton during the

Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

, seeking freedom and opportunity. In Canada, Xiao was a successful entrepreneur before entering public life, working in consulting, international trade, publishing, commercial real estate and marketing. As a business consultant, Xiao worked with some of the world's biggest companies, including Nortel, Bombardier, Motorola, and various Canadian publishing companies. In addition to the BA in English literature, Xiao has a diploma in geological science from the Beijing Institute of Mining. He has also studied business through NAIT and economics at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

Political career

Xiao has spent a great deal of time trying to get elected to the federal government. He sought the Conservative Party nomination in several ridings on a number of occasions. Having been unsuccessful in all his federal attempts, Xiao turned his attention to provincial politics. Xiao first sought public office in the 2008 provincial election in the constituency of

. In that election, Xiao defeated first-term Liberal incumbent

Mo Elsalhy Mo Elsalhy (born 20 March 1971) is a politician, pharmacist and businessman from Alberta, Canada. He received his Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Alberta in 1994. Political career Elsalhy contested the nomination for ...

by 1226 votes to win the riding. After the election, he was named Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Employment and Immigration, Hector Goudreau. Politically, Xiao has been a member of the federal Reform and Canadian Alliance parties, and served on the Edmonton-Leduc board of directors for the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

. On October 10, 2014, Xiao was disqualified by the Conservative Party of Canada from running for its nomination for the 2015 federal election in Edmonton West. The Party gave no reasons for their decision. On July 18, 2017 David Xiao submitted his paperwork in order to run for Edmonton City Council In Ward 5 in Edmonton's Municipal Election on October 16, 2017.

Controversy

Xiao has been subject to criticism for hefty travel expenses. Xiao, whose constituency office is 13 km from the Alberta Legislature, claimed travel expenses of nearly $35,000 in 2012 alone. Xiao claimed most of the expenses were for travel to Calgary and other neighbouring cities as he was the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation.

Personal life

Xiao is married to Alice and together they have two sons, Allen and Andrew. He also considers himself a tea connoisseur. He collects tea pots and enjoys cooking.

Election results

References

External links

David Xiao's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiao, David 1960 births Living people Canadian businesspeople in real estate Chinese emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Politicians from Guizhou Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs University of Alberta alumni China University of Mining and Technology alumni Beijing International Studies University people Businesspeople from Guizhou 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Canadian people of Chinese descent