Henry Yao (姚君宪) | Ep. 1: Life Is Too Short to Live Just for Money | 2026 BC Election Interview
https://youtu.be/7PVC0-Ld9EQ
(Transcript from the episode's English subtitles; speakers not labelled. Host: Sarah Yu.)

[0:00] Highlights
Your reason for entering politics goes back to an illness you had early on? Back then I got cancer: two different lymphomas. In my early 20s. When I heard the news, I was very scared. If I'd gotten this 30 years earlier, it meant certain death, no survival rate. Life is short. I don't want to waste it just making money. If the treatment weren't public, I might not have been able to afford it. and I might not be sitting here talking to you today.

[0:25] Why the NDP
The NDP as a party, people do have different views about it. Yet this time you're still with the NDP. People often ask why we prefer the NDP. It's because we lean toward a more humane approach. For example, I really value education, and I really value health care. I really like public education and public health care. I think for us ordinary folks, if health care becomes profit-driven, we can see how scary it is in the US. So I don't want to go in that direction.

[0:50] Lymphoma in his early twenties
Your reason for entering politics goes back to an illness you had early on? In 2004, I got cancer: two different lymphomas. You were in your 20s? Just over 20. Early 20s. When I heard the news, I was very scared. Even before I'd talked with the doctor, there was already a sense of fear. Because no one wants to face death, especially that young. So back then I felt life is really short. Then, through the doctors and treatment, I felt the treatment was really good. It brought me back from death's door. The doctor explained to me back then that if I'd gotten this 30 years earlier, it meant certain death, no survival rate. Ten years earlier, the treatment would've been very painful. But by the time I got it, medical technology was very advanced. So I'd say I was one of the lucky ones, able to get such good medical support. And I felt we should give more back to our community. Life is short. I don't want to waste it just making money and not contributing to the community. You're grateful for Canadian health care. Very grateful for Canadian health care. Because if the treatment weren't public, I might not have been able to afford it. and I might not be sitting here talking to you today. So I'm grateful for this treatment, and that it got my family through this difficult time. And it took a few years to recover. Five years. For treatment, we had I think six rounds of chemo, then four rounds of radiation, then five years of yearly checkups, checking every year if it had come back. After five years it hadn't come back, so I was officially in remission. I had beaten this disease.

[2:08] After cancer: youth services
Of course, by the five-year mark, I'd already started doing youth services and counselling, hoping to do something meaningful for the community. I also felt that when I was young, being from a Chinese family, there was more focus on studying. But I felt that mentally, socially, and in terms of building self-confidence, it wasn't there. So I spent most of my time afterwards doing youth services and counselling, helping others build what I didn't have back then. As you did this work, did the things you lacked back then gradually develop in you as well? Actually, back then my youth services were Richmond's largest, even though we had the fewest resources. But when we talked with the City, they felt, hey, you've done enough, stop doing so much. I was a bit frustrated. So I said, then I'll go into politics and change direction from a higher level.

[2:48] Losing the 2014 council race
So you ran in a provincial election? Municipal. 2014 was a municipal election. Running for what? As an independent candidate. Independent candidate. Independent. City councillor. Yes. Of course, I did poorly. No experience. Just a young guy with that kind of mindset. Actually, we feel that whether it's municipal or provincial, you need to prepare for the long haul. It's like running a marathon. At first you surely won't have much public support, but after a few years, right, it slowly builds up. Honestly, about being a city councillor, I really hope that everyone, whatever kind of representative, learns gradually from life experience and builds it up. I'm grateful I didn't win back then, because honestly, I was a bit wet behind the ears, just too young.

[3:28] Four years of community work
After I lost, I spent about four years out in the community, at different community events, joining various non-profits, and doing all sorts of volunteer work. For example, I often helped at a place that fed the homeless, washing dishes and serving vulnerable people. I was also with our environmental groups, helping them with removing invasive species and picking up litter. So I was honoured, in 2020, to have the chance to run for the BC NDP in the provincial election. After that provincial election, I jumped to a new level once again.

[4:01] School seismic upgrades and expansions
Among your contributions was DeBeck Elementary's seismic funding. The government gave them a lot of money. Right. Because back then at least half of Richmond's elementary schools weren't... Earthquake-safe. weren't earthquake-safe, or not up to par. As everyone knows, in Richmond we don't know when disaster will strike. With earthquakes, it's not whether one will happen, but when. As parents, who would want their kids at an unsafe school? We want them to leave home happy and come home safe. So on seismic safety, we put in a great deal of work. At the same time, look at our schools. Richmond Centre has many new immigrants, and many young families settled there. So back then, schools couldn't keep up; school spaces couldn't meet the need. So at the time, I worked with Cook Elementary School and also with Brighouse Elementary School. Both were expanded at the same time. One added 150 new spaces, the other 125. But these were all temporary solutions. So in 2023, I worked with the Richmond school district on how to get the province, the City and the school district to work together to find a suitable site in Richmond to build a new elementary school.

[5:02] English-only TCM exams
Pushing this through over four years must have been very hard. Because government policy isn't like you propose it and it gets carried out. On the TCM exams, you also made a big contribution. Can you tell us specifically about the difficulties and how you solved them? Many of my TCM friends told me they now faced a different problem: for TCM, their regulatory body now required all exams in English. Right. Not in Chinese. So many friends in the TCM community brought this to me. I found a chance to talk to our minister. His view was: isn't it just language? They didn't see what language involves. If Chinese won't do, learn English and take the exam. That's when you need a candidate or an elected representative with a diverse background. I told everyone, it's not just language. Simply put, we'd like you to also translate lots of Chinese into English, like 'heatiness' or catching a chill, how to tell heat from cold, and in Chinese medicine, all the different acupuncture points. Language is a culture. It can never be carried over completely, 100%. If we truly want TCM to be seen as something worth learning from, worth carrying forward, a medical system, then we must understand its profound language and culture. We have to hold on to its roots, and not give them up. Once language and culture are cut off, the development of TCM in North America will start to feel different in flavour. It'll deteriorate. So back then I also worked with various ministers, Minister Anne Kang, Minister George Chow, and our Premier at the time, David Eby. Together, we placed North America's first public TCM degree at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU).

[6:28] As a father of two
As a father, raising my two kids, one aged four, one five, my biggest hope is that when my life's journey is over, my kids grow up and, in all kinds of mainstream and diverse settings, can be on an equal footing with everyone, and not be discriminated against because of their background. Hearing you talk about the TCM exam, I think your approach really managed to dig out the root of the problem.

[6:49] “We're not in it for the money”
Let me put it this way. As much as I wanted to help, I was lucky back then to have a very good team. Because honestly, if an MLA decides not to do anything, they really can choose to work or not, and no one can do anything about it. But as I said, we're not in it for money. We're here to take care of this community. I just want my kids to grow up in a good community, to leave home happy and come home safe, My parents also live in the riding. I also hope they and their older friends can go out safely and come home happy.