Josephine Pon is a Canadian politician who was elected in the

2019 Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 ...

to represent the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of Calgary-Beddington in the

30th Alberta Legislature The 30th Alberta Legislative Assembly was constituted after the general election on April 16, 2019. The United Conservative Party (UCP), led by Jason Kenney, won a majority of seats and formed the government. The New Democrats, led by outgoing P ...

. She is a member of the

United Conservative Party The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party ...

. She was a member of the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund and the Special Standing Committee on Members' Services. She previously was Alberta's Minister of Seniors and Housing from 2019 to 2022.

Background

Pon was born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. She immigrated to

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1981, living her following years in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

then eventually in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

with a career in

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

before pursuing her political career. According to election promotion material from the 2019 Alberta provincial election, Pon worked in banking for over 20 years, in roles such as Account Manager in Personal/Commercial banking and Regional Manager, Business Development responsible for Multicultural Banking in the Prairie Region with

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five (banks), Big Five banks, it is the ...

working with more than 230 branches as well as 3,000 staff in and around the Prairie Region."Josephine Pon biography". ''www.alberta.ca''. Retrieved 2019-10-27. Between 2013 and 2016 she was the chair of the board of directors for Immigrant Services Calgary (ISC) helping over 27,000

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

over 50 programs each year. She also worked at

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC; , SCHL) is Canada's federal crown corporation responsible for administering the ''National Housing Act'', with the mandate to improve housing and living conditions in the country.McAfee, Ann. 2013 ...

(CMHC), a

crown corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

mortgage insurance Mortgage insurance (also known as mortgage guarantee and home-loan insurance) is an insurance policy which compensates lenders or investors in mortgage-backed securities for losses due to the default of a mortgage loan. Mortgage insurance can be ...

, as an International Trade Consultant as well as in the Assisted Housing department in the Prairie Region. Shortly before the election, she was Vice President of the Taste of Asia Group, which comprises five restaurants in Canada and well over 150 employees, claiming to assist in providing insight to the reality of the economic situation involving business and restaurant owners.

Political career

On April 16, 2019, Pon was elected as the

MLA for Calgary-Beddington. She defeated Communications & Marketing Consultant,

Alberta NDP The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democrat ...

candidate Amanda Chapman by 3807 votes, winning 53.1% of all votes cast. Shortly after the election, Premier

Jason Kenney Jason Thomas Kenney (born May 30, 1968) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Alberta from 2019 until 2022, and the leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) from 2017 until 2022. He also served as the member o ...

appointed her as Alberta's Minister of Seniors and Housing, vowing to ensure that Albertans and seniors have access to affordable housing and have the resources they need. Since her appointment, she has worked on reforming conventional methods of application and management of provincial benefits such as mailing, faxing or dropping-off to a more senior friendly digital option. She has also made efforts to advance housing projects in Alberta, saying "Investing in affordable housing is vital to helping more low-income Albertans get on the path to financial stability." Pon announced her

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...

plan on Nov. 21, 2019, as a way to reduce red tape for Albertan applicants. On November 1, 2021, Pon announced the tabling of Bill 78: The Alberta Housing Amendment Act, which will allow the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

to enter into "joint ventures" with

for profit Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

in an effort to attract more investment to expand and improve affordable housing. As part of a partnership with the federal

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

, Pon announced a $444 million investment to fund rent support for nearly 35,500 households in Alberta. The United Conservative Party of Alberta announced Josephine Pon would be their candidate for Calgary-Beddington in the

2023 Alberta general election The 2023 Alberta general election was held on May 29, 2023. Voters elected the members of the 31st Alberta Legislature. The United Conservative Party under Danielle Smith, the incumbent Premier of Alberta, was re-elected to a second term with a ...

. She lost her seat in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

to the same

candidate,

Amanda Chapman Amanda Chapman is a Canadian politician from the Alberta New Democratic Party who was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary-Beddington in the 2023 Alberta general election. As of June 21, 2024, she serves as th ...

again. She tried be the Conservative candidate in

Calgary Skyview Calgary Skyview is a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015. Calgary Skyview was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally de ...

in the 2025 federal election but the party appointed someone else.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pon, Josephine United Conservative Party MLAs Living people Women MLAs in Alberta Canadian bankers Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Members of the Executive Council of Alberta Politicians from Calgary Women government ministers of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta