Keenan Yang 杨楠 Interview collection | 2026 BC election

杨楠 Keenan Yang 人物专访｜人物篇：科学家来竞选了｜2026 BC 省选

https://youtu.be/XJhYTHl7fUo

（文字稿据节目字幕整理，未区分说话人；主持：余佩珊 Sarah Yu）

[0:00] 精彩预告

最近其实温哥华现在很多华人都在议论你

说科学家都来竞选了

你这背后是有什么样的一个发心吗

我想说的是政府工作人员的结构老龄化

其实很多工作的方式还很传统

包括像我们自己的公司

我们年纪比较大的一些manager

或者是经理他们其实现在

还很少能流利地使用AI电脑

这些东西包括在疫情期间

开会的时候用个Teams或者是

网上的这种Google Meeting 他们很多人

都上不了

还得training 对

还得先培训然后每一次上的时候

真的是七上八下

一会儿掉一个一会儿回来一个

[0:38] 2014 年来的国际留学生

能给我们做一下自我介绍吗

好呀

我叫Keenan Yang

大家都叫我柯南然后我的中文名字是杨楠

我是2014年来加拿大

作为一名国际留学生在UBC读的

水文地质工程所以我现在

其实也是在从事我的相关专业

我是一名全职的环境工程师

那我现在做的主要是跟土地开发

相关的环境污染问题

包括水土和气这种

所以我其实是

大家小时候想要成为的科学家

[1:06] 把高科技带进政府

那你认为未来想竞选的时候是

要把新的高科技这么一些理念

新的工作流程的方式想带到市政府

带到省政府对吧

对这是其中之一就是efficiency

把high technology和AI这种东西

结合到实际的工作当中

因为它确实很能提高工作效率

当然我们不能以减少工作职位为前提

[1:26] 一个人来温哥华打拼

那你2014年来温哥华是吧

以留学生的身份来温哥华

那你就是说有没有自己孤独的时候啊

或者是觉得睡不着觉的时候啊

自己形单影只在这边打拼的

这种艰难的这种情景呢

我其实从一过来

我遇到的所有的人都非常的友善

我过来第一个租的房子的那个房东

他是去机场接的我

接了我之后直接就到了这儿就让我考驾照

然后开车带我去美国买免税的

那个被子鞋子什么的

[1:56] 跳伞、开飞机

你有什么特别的爱好吗

我的爱好比较宽泛一些高风险的

探险运动比如说跳伞开飞机

这么厉害

那你是不是其实是

你的内在还蛮男孩子的性格

对我其实蛮就是我是

一个女儿身男儿心 Superman

Superwoman

Superwoman Supergirl

[2:18] 不会游泳也敢冲浪

冲浪

我虽然不会游泳但所有水上项目我都喜欢

那这个也很危险你不会游泳的话

冲浪万一掉到水里去

你就没办法自救了

我不怕水因为冲浪的话

你的脚上不是绑根绳在那板上吗

然后你掉下去的话

如果你憋气60秒怎么着也上来了

[2:34] 敢闯敢做，不愿循规蹈矩

我觉得你的性格里是

一个非常敢闯敢做事情的人

所以你有改革派的一种风格和特点

会有一点就是有的时候

会有点不甘心对就是

喜欢新鲜喜欢的那种新的

一些领域里的事情去探索

对不愿意循规蹈矩

会很坚持自己认定了的这个东西

我也希望更多人都跟我这个样子

所以我们其实有时候线下

也会组织一些女性

或者同龄的人的一些聚会

大家会互相分享一下经验有的时候

大家想做不敢做的事

大家就一起商量着做了

[3:04] 素人从政

对于我们女性群体当中

特别是年轻优秀群体当中

你希望给大家传递一个什么样的精神

我其实首先想给大家树立

一个榜样这个榜样就是说

因为我的小红书上面我是叫素人从政

就是说我前面确实是说

没有很多的从政经验

家里也没有这方面的资源

但是当你想要干一件事情的时候

其实你努力去做这件事情

终究会向成功的方向走

至于你的这一生能走到

成功的哪一步这个说不定

但是这个方向要有人

不断地前仆后继地往前去

那我想做的是说积极地呼吁

华人参政积极地呼吁

像我一样的白领 在这次竞选的过程中

[3:43] 很多选民对投票一无所知

其实我发现了很多问题

包括我们Richmond很多的选民

其实他对这个投票竞选

他是一无所知的

我最近就是跟很多朋友进行了

这方面的教育

包括他市选省选有什么区别为什么今年

省选了省长怎么出来的

市议会厅里一共有多少人

他们决策是怎么做的

我省选和市选能分别投票吗就是很多问题

他们都不知道的

对很多人都不知道的

[4:11] 在加拿大从政

那你认为他们这些人

从政真正从内心出发的

他是为了一个什么样的目的呢

在加拿大从政一定是为心出发的

如果你为一个利益的目的

基本在这边是达不到的

所以这边从政的人基本都是

一个从心开始就是说

我认为我身边的人确实有这波需要

我作为一个代表我站出来

那起因都不是说为了钱为了利益

而是说我真的想干这件事

[4:34] 遇到反对会气馁吗

那如果说有人反对或者是你们遇到了

很大的一个困难有没有放弃过

或者是有没有内心气馁过这样子

会有的时候会有气馁或者upset

因为我们的周边确实是会存在

很多反对的声音或者说也不叫

反对就是说会有点像妈妈

跟你说都是为你好

会有很多这样的说法过来

其实是大家把他们自己的匮乏和焦虑

等于嫁接到你的身上

投影投射到你身上来了

但是成立政党并且往下走

这件事情我们是一定会坚持到底的

这个就像你已经生了

一个baby你已经生了个孩子

那你觉得这个孩子长得不好看

那你总不能把他塞回去吧

你仍然要好好地教育他抚养他

因为当你决定生孩子那一刻

你就要为他的前18年负责

当我们成立这个政党的那一刻

我们就要为它的成长和壮大负责

[5:21] 家人的担忧

对其实说实话很多华人这边的

很多的人们

就是说基本上我们小的时候也是一样

对吧身边的亲人和朋友

都会给我们很多的他们的担忧

但是不一定这种担忧是真正

不一定是坏的

对不是坏的但是呢

它不是说是反映

你的真实的状况

对所以说我们还需要去学习

如何去跟他们划清一个边界

所以我也说 作为一个candidate

你要有很强大的这个心态

[5:51] 韧性，是这个时代最需要的品质

心态还有就是我那次听黄仁勋分享

说resilience就是

你的韧性是当下时代

最需要一个品质不论你从事哪一个行业

都会被折弯

就是 这个韧性很重要

非常正确因为现在这个社会

其实是这样不做不错越做越错

这个就像你比如说

你在某一些社团里你说好吧

我组织一个活动当你提出

一个活动的时候

群里所有的人都会出来

提不同的意见这个应该这样

这个应该那样但是

当你不做活动的时候别人也不会做活动

[6:25] 40 个政治扫盲短视频

其实我觉得你还可以运用

一些互联网的手段

然后把你的视频

或者社交媒体上能传播得快一些

你也会看到我的社交媒体

现在陆续地也在上传一些视频

我前期跟我的团队有沟通做了

40个topic就是关于加拿大

政治的一些扫盲题

比如说省议员的工资是多少

不会讲英语可不可以参选

没有出生在加拿大

或者不会讲法语能不能当省长

就是这样一些大家感兴趣

但是又不太知道的问题

比较轻松的话题

对我现在每一期大概就是一分钟到

两分钟给大家讲一下这种问题

我现在陆续在上传这个视频

然后我也看到其实浏览量还不错

微信小红书YouTube

然后现在我也在做

这个IG和Facebook的英文版本

所以我觉得传播量还可以

即使我今年不能 elected

那我觉得我这个给大家做了

政治扫盲也是我的贡献

太好了

Keenan Yang (杨楠) | Ep. 1: A Scientist Runs for Office | 2026 BC Election Interview

https://youtu.be/XJhYTHl7fUo

(Transcript from the episode's English subtitles, translated from the Chinese interview; speakers not labelled. Host: Sarah Yu.)

[0:00] Highlights

Lately, in Vancouver's Chinese community, a lot of people are talking about you, saying, "Even scientists are running for office now!" What's the motivation behind this? What I want to say is that the government workforce is aging, and a lot of the ways of working are still very traditional. That includes our own company. Some of our older managers, the people in management — even now, they can rarely use AI or computers fluently, things like that. During the pandemic, when we held meetings on Teams or Google Meet online, a lot of them just couldn't get on. - And they needed training. - Right. They had to get trained first, and then every time they logged on, it was really chaotic — people kept dropping off and coming back.

[0:38] An international student since 2014

Could you introduce yourself for us? Sure! My name is Keenan Yang. Everyone calls me Keenan, and my Chinese name is Yang Nan. I came to Canada in 2014 as an international student. At UBC, I studied hydrogeological engineering, so now I'm actually working in my field. I'm a full-time environmental engineer. Right now my work is mainly about environmental contamination in land development, including water, soil and air. So I'm actually what everyone wanted to be as a kid: a scientist.

[1:06] Technology in government — without cutting jobs

So in running for office, you want to bring new high-tech ideas and new workflows into city hall and the provincial government, right? Yes, that's one of them: efficiency. Bringing high technology and AI into the actual work we do, because it can really boost productivity. Of course, we can't do it at the cost of jobs.

[1:26] Arriving alone in Vancouver

So you came to Vancouver in 2014, right? As an international student. So, were there times you felt lonely, or nights when you couldn't sleep, all alone, trying to make it here — those kinds of hard times? Actually, from the moment I arrived, everyone I met was very friendly. The landlord of the first place I rented picked me up at the airport. Then he brought me straight here and had me get my driver's licence, then drove me to the US to buy duty-free bedding, shoes, that kind of stuff.

[1:56] Skydiving and flying planes

Do you have any special hobbies? My hobbies are pretty wide-ranging. Some high-risk adventure sports, like skydiving and flying planes. That's impressive! So would you say that you're kind of a tomboy at heart? Yes, I'm actually pretty... I mean, I've got a woman's body with a man's heart — Superman! Superwoman. - Superwoman. - Supergirl.

[2:18] Surfing without swimming

Surfing. I can't swim, but I love every kind of water sport. That's pretty dangerous too. If you can't swim and you fall in while surfing, you'd have no way to save yourself. I'm not afraid of water, because when you surf, isn't your foot tied to the board with a leash? So if you fall in, if you hold your breath for 60 seconds, you'll come up one way or another.

[2:34] Bold, and bringing others along

I think, by nature, you're someone who's really bold and daring. So you have the style and traits of a reformer. There's a bit of that. Sometimes I can be unwilling to settle. Right, like... liking what's new, liking to explore things in new fields. Right. Not one to play by the rules. And I really stick to what I believe in. I hope more people can be like me, too. So sometimes we actually hold in-person meetups for women or people our age. We share our experiences, and sometimes things people want to do but don't dare, we talk it over and do them together.

[3:04] An ordinary person in politics

For us women, especially young, accomplished women, what spirit would you like to pass on to everyone? First of all, I want to set an example. And that example is... On Xiaohongshu (RedNote), I go by "an ordinary person entering politics." Meaning that, honestly, before this I didn't have much political experience, and my family didn't have any resources in this area either. But when you set out to do something, if you really work hard at it, you'll eventually move toward success. As for how far you get in this life on the road to success, who knows. But there have to be people who keep pushing forward in this direction, one after another. So what I want to do is actively encourage Chinese Canadians to get into politics, and actively encourage white-collar workers like me. During this campaign,

[3:43] Voters who don't know how voting works

I've actually noticed a lot of problems. For one, a lot of voters in Richmond, when it comes to voting and elections, actually know nothing at all. Lately I've been educating many friends about all this, like the difference between civic and provincial elections, why this year there's a provincial election, how the Premier is chosen, how many people sit on city council, how they make decisions, can I vote separately in provincial and civic elections? So many questions. they just don't know. Right, a lot of people don't know.

[4:11] Politics in Canada comes from the heart

So what do you think — for these people, going into politics, deep down, what is it they're really aiming for? In Canada, going into politics has to come from the heart. If you're in it for personal gain, you basically won't get it here. So people in politics here basically all start from the heart. Meaning, I feel the people around me really do have this need, so I'll stand up as their representative. The motive isn't money or self-interest; it's that I really want to do this.

[4:34] Facing opposition

So if people oppose you, or you run into major difficulties, have you ever given up, or felt discouraged inside? I do. Sometimes I feel discouraged or upset, because around us, there really are a lot of opposing voices. Or rather, it's not really opposition. It's a bit like your mom telling you it's all for your own good. There's a lot of that kind of talk coming your way. People are really taking their own insecurities and anxieties and basically grafting them onto you, projecting them onto you. But founding a party and keeping it going — this is something we'll definitely see through to the end. It's like you've already had a baby. You've already had a child. Even if you think the child isn't good-looking, you can't exactly stuff them back in, right? You still have to educate them well and raise them. Because the moment you decide to have a child, you're responsible for their first 18 years. And the moment we founded this party, we became responsible for its growth and for making it stronger.

[5:21] Worried families and boundaries

Right. Honestly, in the Chinese community, a lot of people... it's basically like when we were kids, right? Family and friends around us would put lots of their worries on us. But these worries aren't necessarily... Not necessarily bad. Right, they're not bad. But they don't really reflect your actual situation. Right. So we also need to learn how to set boundaries with them. That's why I also say, as a candidate, you need a really strong mindset.

[5:51] Resilience

Mindset. Also, I once heard Jensen Huang say that resilience — your resilience — is what our times need most. Whatever industry you're in, you'll get bent. Right. That resilience is so important. Very true. Because in today's society, if you do nothing, you're never wrong; the more you do, the more you're blamed. It's like, for example, say you're in a community group and you say, "All right, I'll organize an event." When you propose an event, everyone in the group will chime in with different ideas: "Do it this way," "Do it that way." But when you don't hold an event, nobody else will either.

[6:25] 40 politics explainer videos

Actually, I think you could also use some online strategies so that your videos, or your social media, can spread a little faster. You'll also see that on my social media, I've been uploading videos one after another. Early on, I talked it over with my team, and we made 40 topics, basically Canadian Politics 101 questions. For example, how much does an MLA earn? Can you run if you don't speak English? If you weren't born in Canada, or don't speak French, can you become Premier? Questions like these that people are curious about but don't really know the answers to. Fairly light topics. Right. Each episode is roughly one to two minutes, explaining one of these questions. I'm gradually uploading these videos, and I can see the view counts are actually decent on WeChat, Xiaohongshu (RedNote) and YouTube. And now I'm also making English versions for Instagram and Facebook. So I think the reach is decent. Even if I don't get elected this year, I think this thing I've done, giving people a basic political education, is my contribution too. That's great!

杨楠 Keenan Yang 人物专访｜民生篇：透过现象看本质｜2026 BC 省选

https://youtu.be/dAapUmpw0iU

（文字稿据节目字幕整理，未区分说话人；主持：余佩珊 Sarah Yu）

[0:00] 精彩预告

咱们接下来的话题

就是现在大家所谓的

房屋可负担性住房生活成本的压力

你有什么好的办法能解决现在的问题吗

透过现象看本质其实最主要的还是经济

你经济发展好了之后所有的问题

不能说所有的问题大多数的问题都能解决

[0:20] 一个科学家的政治纲领

那你能给我们讲讲

你的政治纲领吗因为我们

也想听一听一个优秀的年轻的科学家

有怎样的一些思想

特别是怎样的一些新的政治纲领

我的政治纲领

其实比较亲民大多数都是从

我身边的朋友社区的居民这些

走访的过程中收集到大家普遍想要

我们去支持的一些方向

然后我也有自己的一些工作经验

和学习经历结合我自己的强项

所以我会更倾向于

某一些政策在我能够上任之后去实行

举个例子打比方比如说

[0:55] 毒品屋、注射屋

大多数居民都比较关心的

这个毒品问题那我和

我们政党一定是零容忍的

就是不管是毒品屋还是毒品的注射屋

这种我们一定是零容忍的

这种纲领但是不是说零容忍

就是一点不能碰触

我们其实更提倡说对于毒品的教育

我们可以提前教育这些高中生

或者是瘾君子甚至是

对毒品有好奇的人哪怕是

一些有病痛上他需要用到

这些毒品的人我们要对他

进行一个提前教育要告诉他

毒品类型使用注意事项

一旦成瘾了之后需要怎么办

如果你主动地想要

戒掉需要去找哪些资源

[1:31] 政党怎么做决定

那你觉得CanWest的

这个党它的政纲里面哪一条

你认为是让你最感觉到骄傲

和开心的一条你就是特别亮点的一条

这个跟我们的口号就是一致的

就是民有所呼 我有所应

民有所呼 我有所应

这很有力量的一句话对

这句话我们也是考虑了

很久说这个话要怎么说

因为中英文都要很有力量

英文是什么呢

英文是Your voice, my action

你发声 我行动

然后

中文说的古典优雅一点就是民有所呼

我有所应 那我们的所有

政纲政策来源于民众

我们其实非常的想说

我们如果被选上了将来有一些

需要议论的这种议题的时候

我们会先做民调在我们的选区内

做民调民众呼声最高的原因是什么

这样做好处是什么坏处是什么

然后我们才会去投出

我们至关重要的这一票

[2:23] 住房和生活成本

咱们接下来的话题

就是现在大家所谓的

房屋可负担性住房生活成本的压力

其实现在整个加拿大百分之

应该百分之七八十吧

应该大部分人都是在struggling的

这种状态下你有什么好的

办法能解决现在的问题吗

透过现象看本质其实最主要的还是经济

你经济发展好了之后所有的问题

不能说所有的问题

大多数的问题都能解决

所以你看这种住房的这个

affordable house的问题它不管是

interest rate太高还是说

mortgage太高还是说房价太高

甚至是地税太高这些问题

如果我们的经济上去了

每个人的收入在税后的收入都达到了

一定程度或者是自己的生意

business做得很好都能有

自己额外的收入的情况下

其实这个就不是问题了

因为在历史数据上来看

这个物价和生活成本永远是往上涨的

房价也永远是往上涨的

所以我们不能阻止历史趋势就是

通货膨胀对吧

每年的

通胀大概在4%以上所以你

就是什么都不做这个东西它也会往上涨

[3:27] 收入增长要高过通胀

那你不能说只有物价在涨

你的工资和你的收入不涨

所以也就是说

如果经济发展放在首位

你的收入增加永远高于

通货膨胀或者生活成本的增高

其实人们就不会有担心了

[3:41] 关税让投资者退缩

对现在主要就是工资不涨有的还反而失业

是的

包括我有很多的朋友

他想从海外来这边做投资

或者建厂那关税的问题

一出其实他们就都退缩了

因为本身从海外进到加拿大

或者进到美国这个关税本身

就已经在那里了

如果说我们跟美国的关税

也涨了的话那它在哪里建厂

其实已经无所谓了那本身来说

就是之前是有很多

投资意愿的人想要来到加拿大

BC省温哥华甚至

Richmond这样的地方那很多东西

也都进入到计划阶段了

甚至已经来看厂房看地了

但是关税这个问题确实是让他们

就是退缩 而且说实话加拿大地广人稀

真的很多地非常适合建工厂

[4:23] AI 来了，就业怎么办

你如果上任之后你认为

就是说就业的这一块的问题

你是一个什么样的态度比如说AI来了

那我们还是要保证

我们民众的工作的数量或者比例

还是怎么样就业率

是不是也是你们一个努力的方向

这样就业率其实它会反映

一个社会稳定性的问题

如果失业率太高就业率太低的情况下

很多社会稳定的问题

就会出来为什么会有

什么零元购啊这些问题

其实就是因为工作的问题

但是你说AI高科技这种东西来了

你又不可能说排斥它而不用

只有可能说使用的速度和方向

你可以去控制使用它的

方向以及使用它的人

其实我的主要想法是这样就是说

我们可以应用AI然后去让人们

做一些AI之上的工作

其实相当于你把基础的

工作交给基础的系统来做

[5:21] 政府有免费培训

有一些人他不会

所以我们就要增加training program

所以你看其实加拿大政府

有很多这种免费的

所以其实要把这些东西更普及

给大家 对 这样的话AI应用进来

你就变成驾驭AI的人对

[5:35] 列治文史蒂斯顿选区

这次您选举的话其实是在三号路

对吧加Blundell往南

在整个Richmond的西南角

西南角 三号路Blundell

然后往南去那一片其实是

最好的 我觉得是文化风景

你觉得你自己这一次有没有很大的胜算呢

不能说有很大的胜算

但是Richmond-Steveston这个选区

是结果最有可能surprise你的一个选区

因为上一届的省议员今年没有参加

竞选那相当于

没有re-election的人 那大家的

这个政纲政策呀敲门程度啊

选民的意向啊其实就很难预测了

[6:13] 咖啡馆座谈会

你希望通过什么样的一些方式

能够宣传把自己宣传出去

我现在是在Richmond Steveston

这边的咖啡馆

我在那边都有座谈会

就是我会让这个社区的人

通过我的朋友们带动

他的邻居会我们有这种像

类似于圆桌会议大家会开放的

我们前面已经进行了

两场效果都还不错

当然每一种人每一种想法

我们都尊重但是我们确实

也要听一下大家的想法是什么

我不能躲在象牙塔里去发展自己

所以听支持的意见听反对的意见

我们上个星期五大概来了12个人

谢谢

我们俩聊得还挺happy

是是是

Keenan Yang (杨楠) | Ep. 2: Looking Past the Surface | 2026 BC Election Interview

https://youtu.be/dAapUmpw0iU

(Transcript from the episode's English subtitles, translated from the Chinese interview; speakers not labelled. Host: Sarah Yu.)

[0:00] Highlights

Our next topic is what people these days call housing affordability, and the pressure of the cost of living. Do you have any good ideas for solving the current problems? Look past the surface to the root — the main thing is really the economy. Once the economy is doing well, all the problems — well, not all problems, but most problems can be solved.

[0:20] A scientist's platform

So, can you tell us about your platform? Because we'd also like to hear what an outstanding young scientist is thinking — and especially, what kind of new platform she's putting forward. My platform — is actually pretty grassroots. Most of it comes from my friends, residents in the community — things I gathered while visiting them, areas people generally want us to support. And I also have my own work experience and education, plus my own strengths, so I'd lean more toward carrying out certain policies once I'm able to take office. To give you an example, take

[0:55] Drug houses and injection sites

an issue most residents care about: the drug problem. For me and our party, it's definitely zero tolerance. Whether it's drug houses or drug injection sites, we're definitely zero tolerance — that's our platform. But zero tolerance doesn't mean it can't be touched at all. What we really advocate is education about drugs. We can educate high school students early, or people with addiction, or even people curious about drugs, or even those with pain or illness who need these drugs. We want to give them education ahead of time, and tell them about the types of drugs, precautions for using them, what to do if they become addicted, and if you actively want to quit, what resources to turn to.

[1:31] How the party decides

So, in the CanWest Party's platform, which policy do you think makes you feel the proudest and happiest — your real highlight? That's in line with our slogan, which is "When the people call, we answer." "When the people call, we answer." That's a really powerful line. Yes. We spent a long time thinking about how to phrase this line, because it had to be powerful in both Chinese and English. What is it in English? In English, it's "Your voice, my action." "You speak up, we act." And in Chinese, put more classically, it's "When the people call, we answer." So all of our platform and policies come from the people. What we really want to say is, if we're elected, then in the future, when issues come up for debate, we'll first run a poll in our riding — polling on what people are calling for most, and why, what the pros and cons of doing it are, and only then will we go and cast that all-important vote.

[2:23] Housing and the cost of living

Our next topic is what people these days call housing affordability, and the pressure of the cost of living. Actually, right now across Canada, probably 70 or 80 percent — most people are probably struggling. In this situation, do you have any good ideas for solving the current problems? Look past the surface to the root — the main thing is really the economy. Once the economy is doing well, all the problems — well, not all problems, but most problems can be solved. So take housing, the affordability problem — whether it's interest rates being too high, or mortgages being too high, or home prices being too high, or even property taxes being too high — all these problems, if our economy picks up, and everyone's income, their after-tax income, reaches a certain level, or their own business is doing well, and they have some extra income of their own, then it's really not a problem anymore. Because if you look at historical data, prices and the cost of living always go up, and home prices always go up, too. So we can't stop the historical trend, which is inflation, right? Every year, inflation is around 4% or more, so even if you do nothing at all, things will still go up.

[3:27] Incomes must outpace inflation

You can't have only prices going up while your wages and income don't. So in other words, if economic growth comes first, and your income always rises faster than inflation or the rising cost of living, then people really wouldn't worry.

[3:41] Tariffs and investment

Right. The main issue now is wages aren't rising; some are even out of work. Yes. For instance, I have a lot of friends who wanted to invest here from overseas or build factories, but once tariffs came up, they all backed off. Because going from overseas into Canada or into the US, the tariffs were already there to begin with. If tariffs between us and the US go up too, then where they build the factory doesn't matter anymore. And actually, there used to be a lot of people keen to invest who wanted to come to Canada — BC, Vancouver, even places like Richmond. A lot of things had already reached the planning stage. Some had even come to look at factory buildings and land. But the tariff issue really made them back off. And honestly, Canada has vast land and a sparse population. A lot of the land is really ideal for building factories.

[4:23] AI and jobs

If you take office, on the issue of employment, what's your stance? Say AI comes along — do we still need to protect the number or share of jobs our people have, or what? Is the employment rate also something you're working toward? The employment rate actually reflects how stable a society is. When unemployment is too high and employment too low, lots of social stability problems start to show up. Why do we have problems like shoplifting? It really comes down to jobs. But when high tech like AI comes along, you can't just reject it and not use it. All you can do is manage the speed and direction of its use. You can control the direction it's used in, and the people using it. My main idea is basically this: we can apply AI, and then have people do work above what AI does. In effect, you hand the basic work over to basic systems.

[5:21] Free training

Some people don't know how, so we need more training programs. And actually, the Canadian government has a lot of free ones like this. So really, we need to make these more accessible to everyone. That way, when AI comes in, you become someone who masters AI. Right.

[5:35] The Richmond-Steveston riding

This time, you're running around No. 3 Road, right? And south of Blundell. In the southwest corner of Richmond. Southwest corner. No. 3 Road, Blundell, and the area going south from there is the best, I think — the culture, the scenery. Do you think you have a strong chance of winning this time? I wouldn't say I have a strong chance, but the Richmond-Steveston riding is the riding whose result is most likely to surprise you. Because the MLA from last term isn't running this year, so effectively there's no incumbent seeking re-election. So everyone's platforms and policies, how much door-knocking they do, how voters lean — it's really hard to predict.

[6:13] Coffee-shop town halls

What are some ways you're hoping to get yourself out there? Right now, in Steveston, Richmond, at a local coffee shop, I've been holding community talks there. I get people in this community, through my friends, to bring along their neighbours. We have these roundtable-style sessions, where everyone talks openly. We've already held two of them, and both went pretty well. Of course, every kind of person and view, we respect them all. But we really do need to hear what people think. I can't hide away in an ivory tower and just develop on my own. So I listen to the views in support and the views against. Last Friday, about 12 people came. Thank you. We had a pretty happy chat, the two of us. Yes, yes, yes.