Jenny Wai Ching Kwan (born 1967) is a Canadian politician who is the member of Parliament (MP) for Vancouver East. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Kwan was elected to the House of Commons in 2015. She was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), representing Vancouver-Mount Pleasant from 1996 to 2015 with the British Columbia (BC) NDP, and was a provincial cabinet minister from 1998 to 2001. Kwan entered politics in 1993, when she was elected to the Vancouver City Council.

Background

Kwan immigrated to Canada at age nine with her family from British Hong Kong. She speaks English, French, and Cantonese. Kwan graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology. She started her career as a community legal advocate in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside before entering politics.

Political career

Municipal politics (1993–1996)

In 1993, Kwan at age 26 was elected as the youngest-ever member of Vancouver City Council. She was the sole representative of the Coalition of Progressive Electors throughout her term on council.

Provincial politics (1996–2015)

In the 1996 British Columbia general election, Kwan entered provincial politics. After being nominated, she was elected as the MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, in East Vancouver. She succeeded Premier Mike Harcourt, who at the time had just resigned over a series of serious fundraising scandals, including Bingogate. In 2001, Kwan, along with Joy MacPhail, was one of only two NDP MLAs to survive the party's electoral collapse in the 2001 British Columbia general election due to a BC Liberal landslide upset. She was re-elected in 2005, 2009, and 2013, continuing to serve as an opposition MLA.

Leadership controversy, December 2010

In December 2010, Kwan released a statement to the media criticizing NDP leader Carole James, and calling for an immediate leadership convention, after party candidates suffered defeat in the 2009 election. In response to Kwan's statement, James called an emergency caucus session to address opposition to her continued leadership. Before the caucus meeting was held, however, James announced her resignation as party leader. While Kwan was accused of self-interest, at the time she claimed to have no plans to run for the leadership of the party.

Portland Hotel Society controversy, March 2014

In March 2014, an audit of the Portland Hotel Society showed that Kwan's ex-husband, Dan Small, had improperly expensed the cost of a family Disneyland trip to the society. At the time of the trip, Kwan had still been married to Small and had participated in the trip with their children. When the audit became public, Kwan held a press conference where she denied any knowledge that the society had paid for the trip, and said she would reimburse the society. Following the conference, Kwan took a brief leave of absence.

Member of Parliament (2015–present)

In January 2015, Kwan announced her plan to seek the NDP nomination in Vancouver East for the forthcoming federal election, after NDP MP Libby Davies, who had served since 1997, chose not to seek another term. Mable Elmore, her legislative colleague from Vancouver-Kensington, was also seeking the party's nomination in the riding. Supporters of Kwan's candidacy included Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs president Stewart Philip, Chinese Freemasons Association president Herbert Yiu, former British Columbia natural resources minister Robert Arthur Williams, and United Steelworkers official Steve Hunt. She was nominated on March 22. Vancouver East had elected an MP from the NDP or its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, in all but two elections since it was first contested in 1935; it voted for Liberal candidates in 1974 and 1993. She was elected to the House of Commons in October 2015, defeating candidates Edward Wong (Liberal) and James Low (Conservative) by wide margins. On November 12, NDP leader Tom Mulcair appointed her to be the party's critic for immigration, refugees and citizenship. Kwan supported Jagmeet Singh in his successful campaign in the 2017 NDP leadership election. She was re-elected in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. On May 12, 2023, it was reported that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service approached Kwan about a meeting concerning Chinese diplomats threatening her.

Electoral record

Federal

Provincial