Lawrence Chen 陈卫平 Interview collection | 2026 BC election

Lawrence Chen (陈卫平) | Ep. 1: Not Talking Isn't an Illness | 2026 BC Election Interview

https://youtu.be/aDexWq_rUKs

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

[0:00] Highlights

Actually, it's not an illness. It's not an autism issue. It's that society hasn't been accepting of them. Didn't I pack you a lunch? She said other students took it all. She couldn't eat a single bite. If you don't understand sharing, then leave this school.

[0:17] The CanWest Party

Lao Chen, thank you so much for coming to our studio today. I hear you've founded a new party. What's it called? Our party is called the CanWest Party. Could you briefly introduce your party's platform to our viewers? As for when our party was founded, it was actually back in 2007. Yes. Back then, the name we started with wasn't this one. It was called the Nation Alliance Party. After that, we ran in several elections. Provincially, we're what's called a provincial party. One condition for approving a provincial party is that in every provincial election, you must put forward your representatives— a few candidates—to run. If you skip even one election, then your party gets closed. Right, closed. So a few years ago, after I stopped running, we were closed. Then this February, we revived the party. But when we revived it, we couldn't use the old name anymore. So we came up with a new name: the CanWest Party.

[1:28] A grassroots party

So what you want to tell viewers is that its political platform is basically the same. Right. We've never changed. Then and now, basically, one thing holds: we're a grassroots party. That is, our members and all our supporters are ordinary citizens, ordinary people. And the vast majority are first-generation immigrants. That's our profile. Because we define ourselves as a grassroots party, when we run for office, we, as candidates, are representatives of the people, right? You represent the people of your riding. You listen to them, and then you take their voice to the provincial government, or to city hall. So our platform is bottom-up, not top-down.

[2:13] First time on the provincial stage

Because this provincial election is the first time our party is showing itself to the public. We're the CanWest Party, a provincial party, and we hope that through this provincial election, more people will get to know us. Lately I've talked a lot about the party, and people had no idea. Nobody promotes us. People only knew my old Nation Alliance Party. The CanWest Party, they'd never heard of. As I recall, you were only founded recently, right? In the Richmond civic election too, a lot of people didn't know my name. They just knew me as Lao Chen. Wei Ping Chen. But in elections, I use Lawrence Chen. Because in elections there are no Chinese characters, right? So Lawrence Chen is my campaign name. My name is Wei Ping Chen. And for school trustee this time, it's the same name. And provincially, you're running in Richmond Centre. Yes. Because that area has lots of Chinese residents— a high proportion of Chinese, lots of middle-class condos in that area.

[3:11] Studying abroad in 1998

Lao Chen, I'd like to know what year you came to Canada. Before that, did you study abroad? In another country? Yes, I went abroad to study in 1998, first to Australia. At the time I did a master's degree, an MBA, with two majors: one was finance, the other business management. My undergrad was in China, at Dalian Maritime College— as it was called then, now Dalian Maritime University— for my bachelor's. Then in Australia, after finishing my master's, I immigrated here. So I came as a skilled immigrant. So how do you think Australia compares with Canada? In healthcare, in education, are their systems any different? Early on, Canada was similar to Australia. Later, after I came to Canada, I found that healthcare here— when we came, we had to buy medical insurance. Right. Yes, medical premiums. Over $100, right? But in Australia there was none of that. Australia was— people there told me Australia is a truly socialist country. Free education, free healthcare. Out of work? You go get money from the government, no strings attached, no proof needed. You just go collect it. Just say you have no job, they believe you and give you money to spend. As for Canada, when we came, education was free, of course, but healthcare cost money. No money, no job? You couldn't just ask the government for money. You had to have worked before and get EI before you could get money. That's different from Australia. Australia has no EI. EI means you've already worked and paid into something like unemployment insurance, right? So in terms of the system, Canada wasn't as good as Australia back then, in my view. But they were both part of the same system, both under the Queen back then. So why did you end up choosing Canada? After I graduated, I wanted to immigrate. There were two countries: Australia and Canada. I applied to both. Canada approved faster; Australia was slower. So since I got approved, I came. I also thought that Canada, being closer to the U.S., might be more developed. It was kind of a random idea. I just sort of ended up here, and I've been here since.

[5:13] Running for school trustee

I'd originally meant to run just for school trustee, but it all ended up overlapping. Lots of reporters were confused: why run for this and that? It's not that I wanted to. So why did you stack them together? This came up so suddenly. Because we're a provincial party, we have to run in provincial elections. That's what the rules require, right? Before the provincial election came up, I thought— my friends, many of my supporters, are parents. Parents told me a lot, like about kids with autism issues and depression, hoping the government would take notice.

[5:42] Quiet doesn't mean autistic

I thought it was a really good issue. That became our platform. So I hoped that as a trustee, I could tell the school board that they should care about these kids. But throughout my interviews, I found a problem. In this country, they label a child who doesn't talk here as autistic, and send them to a doctor for medication. But I visited many Chinese parents, and they said their kids actually aren't autistic. It's because they came to a new environment, their language isn't good, they have no friends in class, nobody talks to them. So they go through a period of adjustment. During that adjustment, they might not want to talk, or be kind of withdrawn. But the local education experts don't get it, because they grew up here. Kids here normally have lots of friends to talk and chat with. But a newcomer, a new student from elsewhere— including my daughter, when she started school— everyone bullied her. People here pick on the meek, too. For one, your language isn't good, and you're a stranger. So the more they get bullied, the less they talk, and the more they sulk at home. Actually, it's not an illness. It's not an autism issue. It's that society hasn't been accepting of them. So given this situation, I want to bring the parents' voices to the government, to say: Don't take a child who doesn't like to talk and push them to a doctor, make them take medication. You'll make a healthy kid sick. They were perfectly fine to begin with.

[7:09] His daughter's lunch

You should care about them more. When my daughter first came to this country— that was back in 2000— she started at a school. In the morning, I packed her something really tasty. At 2 p.m., she'd come home from school and eat ravenously. I said, how are you this hungry? Didn't I pack you a lunch? She said other students took it all. She couldn't eat a single bite. As soon as it was lunchtime, others would come, grab it and eat it. She didn't dare speak up. Several kids ate her food, so she was always hungry. Only then did I realize that my child came home unhappy because she was being bullied at school.

[7:44] “If you don't understand sharing, leave”

Did you write to the principal back then? I went to the principal. He chewed me out, kept saying you new immigrants don't understand what we call sharing. That was his word. We don't accept what you're saying. If you don't understand sharing, then leave this school. What's sharing? He said your child's lunch should be shared with others. No— sharing only works if the person is willing to do it. But back then, look, the child only had that one lunch. Just one lunch. She can't share it with everyone. Sharing half would be fine, but you left my child without a single bite. And I didn't even know. The thing is, she wouldn't say anything at home. She'd just come home and eat like crazy. After a while, I wondered why she was this hungry. She had nothing to drink either. The juice I packed, she never got to drink—it was taken. In other words, a new kid gets bullied in class. This really hit home for me. So I believe in cases like this, if a kid doesn't talk and seems down, it's not an illness. It's definitely caused by society. So we parents need to pay attention, teachers should too. Parents don't know, and teachers say your child is sick, go see a doctor, take some strange medication. Isn't that just nonsense? That's why we want to use our party to voice these people's concerns. Because a party is a platform to speak, right? It's not a community group. It's about taking certain policy issues to the people's representatives. We speak for the people and tell the government you should adjust. Shouldn't you require our schools to look out for these new students? Because their language is weak and they have no friends to begin with, they may not be sick at all. Don't push them into hospitals. Many parents feel they want to speak through me.

[9:30] Why school trustee

I see that as one reason I'm running. So are you still running, or have you withdrawn? The provincial election came too late. We couldn't withdraw anymore. You have a few days after registering to withdraw. Registration closed on the 19th. The provincial vote was called the 22nd, three days later. By then we couldn't withdraw. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't. So in effect, you're running for school trustee first, and then the provincial election. Of course, for me that's not a big problem. As for running for trustee, my ultimate goal is to use this platform so that the school board can hear that we have these voices— voices representing several thousand people. I'd already be satisfied. Whether I get elected isn't really that important. I'm not saying I'm desperate to win at any cost. I say no. Actually, when I ran for mayor before, it was the same. I ran for mayor against Malcolm Brodie. Of course I knew I wouldn't win. But I could talk to him. I could tell him how he should improve. And during the election, he listened to me. Great. Just be yourself, be the best of yourself. Right. The media interviewed me too: Why are you running? I said because things here need improving. Only during a campaign will all the media take what I say and publish it: "Chen said this needs improving." I'm already satisfied with that. In a democratic system, this is the best platform for a grassroots representative to make their voice heard. I admire your courage. It's the best time. And during that time, when I spoke out on these issues, nobody actually attacked me, because everything I said was very practical. I wasn't hostile to anyone. I just said, on behalf of our voters: they have these views, please consider them. People felt my approach was acceptable, not unacceptable.

[11:10] Winning isn't what matters

Before, I wanted to run for trustee to voice what we parents truly feel. Whether I win or not, I don't really mind. In past elections I had the same mindset. And this time, with the provincial election here, I'm running for MLA also to raise the tax issue. This is what ordinary people want. Whether you cut taxes is your call, but I have to say it, right? Your taxes are too heavy. They're heavy because you're carrying too much debt. I know you'll have to raise taxes regardless. Also, can the healthcare problem be dealt with? This is the best platform to speak up. If voters agree and give me their vote, of course I'd welcome it. But if they don't, that's fine. At least what I'm saying represents not just my own voice, but truly the voices of many people.

Lawrence Chen (陈卫平) | Ep. 2: Four Months for a Scan | 2026 BC Election Interview

https://youtu.be/P_atcxwUZao

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

[0:00] Highlights

Don't give me the grand talk about spending tens of billions on big buildings. That has nothing to do with us. Not that it's completely unrelated, but we think the urgent priority is to cut wait times for medical care right away. Wait too long and people die. I looked at the provincial NDP government's report on health care. They say they've invested a huge amount of money, but we can't see it. This isn't what a developed country looks like. Right? How can you make a patient wait four months? They'll pass the debt on to us ordinary people. We'd been preparing for a 2028 provincial election. We weren't ready either.

[0:40] Four months for a knee scan

Lots of friends tell me, "Lao Chen, medical wait times are far too long. Shouldn't this be raised?" Right. When people raise concerns like this— I've been through it myself. I needed a scan on my leg, and it took four months to get in. And even four months was only by squeezing in. The hospital said, "Either you wait six months, or someone just cancelled within four months— can you be here at 8 a.m.?" I said yes. Even jumping the queue, it still took four months. So I've felt this firsthand too. - Your knee? Was it a CT scan? - Yes, a CT. What else would it be? A CT scan—if you were in China, you'd get the results the same day. Same day. In China, it's always same day. But here you wait four months. Clearly, with Canada's free health care system, the queues are really, really long, and doctors and facilities really still need a lot of improvement for now. That isn't what a developed country looks like. Right? How can you make a patient wait four months? So when our voters, our friends, our neighbours have these concerns and I feel the same way, then I think this becomes part of our party's platform. A party— as a grassroots party, we listen to the people and speak for them, taking their hardships to the provincial government in the hope that it will improve things. That's what a political party is for. Have you looked into, say, health care—suppose your party had a real voice and got elected. On health care, what would you actually do?

[2:14] One CT scanner?

I looked at the provincial NDP government's report on health care. They say they've invested a huge amount of money, but we can't see it. Take Richmond Hospital. However much money you put in, why is there only one CT scanner? This is really simple. A CT scanner isn't big money, is it? But what year was there only one? Surely not now? Richmond Hospital really has just one? Go and try it. Try waiting in that line. Then why not choose another hospital? Because where you are— I was living in Richmond then, and the family doctor, you know— No matter how many you have—two, three— your patients, your population, are out of proportion to the machines. For a government, investing in a CT scanner should be a simple thing. This problem isn't just a year or two old. It's been years. I've been here almost 30 years. I came out in '98, left China. It was like this 30 years ago, and 30 years later, it's still the same. That's clearly the government's problem, not the people's. Right? So in this situation, our party's platform is to speak for the people and tell the province: when it comes to medical equipment, shouldn't you invest more precisely? Invest in what we can see, what we urgently need. We don't feel it. You say you've invested so much, but we can't see it. Or rather, patient wait times haven't come down.

[3:40] Not enough family doctors

They haven't come down. Right? A key problem right now is that wait times are too long. It's not that your equipment is bad, or that your doctors are bad. The doctors are great, the equipment is great, but after a month of waiting, I'm already dead. In the end, a lot of my friends went back to China for surgery, and it went fine. Within a week of getting there, it was done. Here, a one-month wait counts as short. So aren't you going to fix this? You can tell us how much you invested, but ordinary people can't see it at all. We only need the most basic things, like family doctors. There aren't enough bilingual family doctors, right? At least not in this area. It's hard to see a doctor, hard to find a family doctor. These are the most basic needs in people's lives. As the government, you should address them. Don't give me the grand talk about spending tens of billions on big buildings. That has nothing to do with us. Not that it's completely unrelated, but we think the urgent priority is to cut wait times for medical care right away. Wait too long and people die. Long-term planning and short-term problems both have to be addressed.

[4:46] Taxes are too heavy

Of course. So on health care, we know voters have strong demands, so we amplify that voice. That's one of our platform planks. The second: people's tax burden is far too heavy now. How many taxes does BC have? The province is raising the PST again, raising the vacancy tax again. Why raise taxes? I've seen the province's report too. From 2017, before the NDP took office, to now, compared with its predecessor, the debt—the government's debt burden is up 136%. In other words, it owes more. They say it's all been spent. No matter where it went, once the government's in debt, it raises taxes. Right? They'll pass the debt on to us ordinary people. Yes. So is the government spending this money on things that are all reasonable? This country doesn't have anything like China's Discipline Inspection Commission or supervisory commission. Nobody oversees it. Only the opposition keeps watch. But the opposition doesn't watch either, because its MLAs are in there too. It's not as if the NDP has all 93 MLAs—they're not all yours. The others are in there too, right? So in this situation, you spent all that money, and in the end you say, "We're in heavy debt," and raise taxes, so the whole burden falls on us ordinary people.

[6:06] Left with a few dollars after property tax

A while back—in July, June or July—I watched a video of an elderly white woman. She recorded a video, and she was nearly in tears while recording it. She said she'd just paid her property tax, and after paying it, she found she had only a few dozen dollars left in the bank. Taxes are too heavy. So, I mean, after I watched that video, I thought, how are people supposed to live? So this NDP government, on these two fronts, has done very poorly, in my view. Ordinary people generally think so too. I often go out to listen to people, talk with them, and ask, "Are you happy in this society? Is your happiness level high?" Lately, not really. Lately, prices across the board have been— because when taxes are high, everything keeps going up.

[6:55] Why an early election

So how do you see it? I mean, now since the NDP has some people voicing dissatisfaction— Many people are dissatisfied. then why is Premier David Eby calling an election? Everyone should know his goal by now. His opponent is the BC Conservatives— not the federal Conservatives, the BC Conservatives. Infighting has left them without a leader, and lots of members have left too. He figures that in this gap, with the whole Conservative Party leaderless, he sees it as a... - Opportunistic, you mean? - Yes. He wants to expand his seats. He actually already has a majority. So in principle, it shouldn't matter much for pushing his own policies. But he wants to expand his seats even more, so with his rival in crisis, he moved it up two years. We'd been preparing for a 2028 provincial election. We weren't ready either. Two years early, it's suddenly been changed to a new election for MLAs, for the legislature. He thinks that with his rival this weak, he can expand his seats and govern four more years— two extra years. Because you haven't governed well. Granted, if you'd governed well, that'd be fine. But this way, if he doesn't win, that's also a... Right, so it's really a kind of gamble. It is a bit of a gamble. Right now, the general reaction is negative: why did you have to lump it in with the municipal elections this time, right?

Lawrence Chen (陈卫平) | Ep. 3: A Third Choice | 2026 BC Election Interview

https://youtu.be/F-vjazWzxZI

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

[0:00] Highlights

So in the past, capitalists had a voice: the Liberals, for example. And the unions had theirs: the NDP. But the real grassroots, at the very bottom— no one was looking out for them. Could we take all these small parties— combine all the small parties into a real third option? I'm a man of my word. I talk less and do more.

[0:27] CanWest vs. the NDP

From what you've just said, CanWest is a party close to ordinary people that reflects grassroots voices, right? And on health care and tax cuts— right, you advocate cutting taxes. But on being close to ordinary people, how is the NDP different from you? The NDP defines itself as blue-collar. Blue-collar— also leaning toward ordinary people, everyday citizens' voices. It's unlike the traditional BC Liberals. The BC Liberals are the party of the elite, with big business and big money behind it. Back then the NDP was built around unions. Unions represent the working class—by historical definition, an organization that takes on capitalists. So every year the union takes a small cut of members' wages as your dues. Then every four years, it pushes the employer to raise your pay. Now many employers are the government, like school boards, garbage workers, the post office too, and even, what's it called, the police. They're all government employees. So every four years, these unions go and ask the government to raise their members' pay. The NDP is built on that organization. So its policies favour, first and foremost, its blue-collar union members. We're not like that. We stand for all ordinary people. We speak up for them. So in the past, capitalists had a voice: the Liberals, for example. And the unions had theirs: the NDP. But the real grassroots, at the very bottom— no one was looking out for them. No one cares whether they live or die. No one listens to their voices. So we fill that gap. We go to the most ordinary people: "What do you think? You live here too, right? What should the government do better? Tell us, and we'll speak up for you." So we represent the real grassroots, the general public, while the NDP represents its union-centred membership. It's a little different. Ours is broader; theirs is narrower.

[2:37] Provincial vs. federal Conservatives

So this election comes two years early, and the BC Conservatives' leader recently announced his resignation, and then an interim leader took over. What's your take on all this? It's not truly conservative. "Conservative" is just a name. Also, the BC Conservative Party is totally different from the federal one. Lately many friends keep telling me that they think the BC Conservatives and the federal Conservatives might be the same, a single entity. There's a misconception. People may think the Liberals stand for liberty. Not so. It's just called "Liberal." "Conservative" means very conservative? Not so either. It's only a name, right? So first, let's be clear: the federal Conservatives are one party, the BC Conservatives are another. The two aren't connected in that way. Back then, BC Liberal candidates came into the party, while some of the original BC Conservatives weren't as... There's a lot of internal discord. Their politics are completely different, even 180 degrees apart. Like, I want things fully open, you want something else—they clash. There's no reconciling it. As for our party, we don't have that many candidates.

[3:51] Two CanWest candidates

I'm running for MLA in Richmond Centre. Another member of ours, Keenan Yang, is running in Richmond South. So far we've fielded only two candidates since there wasn't enough time to prepare.

[4:02] Can you join more than one party?

Lao Chen, how can someone join? Can a person join several parties at once? Or, say, someone wants to join your CanWest Party— - Yes, they can. But they were in the Conservatives before, or the NDP—can they still join CanWest? Yes. Party membership here is open. It's simply about sharing a set of ideas. If today I back your party's leadership and platform, I can join and become your supporter. If later you fall apart and I'm not happy with you anymore, I'll leave and join someone else. That's completely fine. What we've mainly talked about today is your party's platform. You've gone into a lot of detail about people's daily lives, right? And these are real things happening. So looking ahead, can you predict how the NDP and the Conservatives will do this time, and how things will look across the province?

[5:01] Who will win?

Who wins, who loses? Who gets a majority? Right. I think the NDP will still govern. It's because they've already made thorough preparations for this election. Relatively speaking, By comparison, the NDP has its own system, a relatively stable one. Right. That's how it'll be. Which means we have to endure the NDP's high taxes again. So the voices of ordinary citizens like us need your party to carry them upward.

[5:30] At least we can speak up

What we can do now is at least speak our minds during the campaign. Reporters interview me every day now, and I've shared all my views with them. English-language reporters. At least they can get my message out. They think what I say makes sense, too. Like what I said earlier about education. They realized a child who doesn't speak may not actually have autism, right? They learned that through me. But they have no way to communicate with parents. Parents can shout all day; they ignore you. So in this election, whoever wins, at least through this platform we tell everyone we're here. We can speak for the grassroots now. Going forward, after this election, we hope our party can gradually grow and attract more members. Those who share our values, who want to help ordinary people and have ideas—join us. That way, four years from now, we'd actually have 93 MLA nomination slots available. Yes, we should fill them. As a provincial party, you must run all 93. Among all the parties this time, from what I saw in yesterday's reports, maybe only the BC Conservatives have filled all 93. The NDP seems to have one riding unfilled. I'm not sure I read that right. But the two of them have each nominated over 90. The other small parties have two or three, or four or five. Actually, in BC, as for the small parties, I think they should stop going it alone.

[7:00] Small parties, joining forces

Could we take all these small parties— combine all the small parties into a real third option? That way, voters would have a really good choice. These small parties are all out of power, meaning we're all on the outside. We carry no baggage of corruption or scandal, since we've never governed. These people all want BC to do better. They don't like the current NDP, nor the current BC Conservatives. So if it's possible to take all the small parties in four years and build them into a third party, then quite possibly we'd give voters a third option. Right now, if voters want a third option, in some ridings there isn't one. It's just two candidates. In some ridings, like mine, there is one. At least they say, "If you run—" my friends say, "If you run, I'll vote for you. If you don't run, I won't vote at all." My diehard supporters—what we call a loyal base of voters.

[7:58] A loyal base in Richmond

In Richmond I have about 2,000 to 3,000 loyal voters. I don't need to campaign; if I run for mayor, they'll vote for me. Win or lose, they don't care. It's about political identity and values. They're behind you. If I don't run, they'll never vote for anyone else. That's something very hard to change. Campaigning won't change it. Because in Canada, no law binds candidates—saying, "In the election, you promised to do this once elected. If you don't do it once in office, I'll remove you." There's no such law. So before elections they promise the moon: "I promise this, I promise that." After making all those promises, once they're in office, it's bye-bye. Promises broken. Federally, it's the same; provincially too, and municipally too. So in this situation, people just don't believe anyone. These friends of mine just don't believe what anyone says. They say, "I only trust Lao Chen. If you get in, you'll do what you say." Because I'm a man of my word. I talk less and do more. I'd never make grand promises and then deliver nothing. I'm not that kind of person. So those who know me know my character. So wherever I go—if I run provincially, they follow me there. If I run for school trustee, they vote for school trustee. If I say I'm not running for mayor, they won't vote for mayor. That's how it is.

Lawrence Chen (陈卫平) | Ep. 4: A Voice for Those Without a Vote | 2026 BC Election Interview

https://youtu.be/ypzPC6rT2tk

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

[0:00] Highlights

Nearly 90,000 of us Chinese live here and pay taxes, raise their kids here, spend and work here, but can't vote. If you don't have someone who speaks Mandarin, I'm leaving. I won't open an account. And sure enough, this was 20-some years ago, Vancouver's airport suddenly had signs in Chinese.

[0:23] Permanent residents in Richmond

Another very important point I want to raise in this election: in Richmond, there are a great many PRs. Among us Chinese alone, nearly 90,000. These people live here, pay taxes, raise their kids, spend and work here, but they have no vote. I think that is somewhat unfair to them. But this isn't a provincial election issue. It's a federal one. These permanent residents living here, since they live here permanently, your policies actually affect them. They pay taxes. It's not like they don't pay taxes. The only difference between them and us is the right to vote and run for office. If these PRs could be given at least the right to cast a ballot, you could say they can't be candidates. I'd understand that. This the federal government could change. I'm raising this for the first time today: I hope that whether it's the provincial or federal government, in future elections they'll consider giving PRs the right to vote. They also have the right to be heard. A lot of what I'm hearing this time really comes from them. Why do they come to me? Because they can't vote. They feel helpless. It's like they can talk but have been made mute, right? Right. They want to speak but can't.

[1:48] Why not become citizens?

Most of them are from mainland China. Why? Because if you're from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia or Singapore, you can become a citizen without affecting your benefits back there. Taiwan recognizes people holding both Canadian and Taiwanese passports. Their benefits in Taiwan are very good, but after coming here they can become citizens with no impact. But for us mainlanders, once you become a citizen, a lot of things back there get complicated, because China doesn't recognize this kind of dual status. So they don't become citizens not because they don't love this land, but because they have no choice. They may still own property there, may still have elderly parents there to look after. And going back to China, if you're not a citizen, you're treated one way. If you are a citizen, you're treated another way. So they have many practical considerations and can't take citizenship right now. But their contribution to this country is the same as ours. So given all this, if possible, in the future, if there's another federal or provincial election, I'll take this issue to the federal level, hoping to give them, the PRs, the right to vote. I think they should have that right. So CanWest's voice, how can it, in the legislature, or at the federal level, reach the people at the top?

[3:07] Federal issues: the gun ban

At the federal level, we have no say, because we're a provincial party. All we can do is, first, raise it with the sitting federal MPs. For example, a few days ago Chak Au and I had a conversation. We have photos too. I told Chak Au, who was sitting next to me. I said, can I bring some federal issues to you, since I can't raise them with the Premier? He asked, what issues? The gun ban. Because I teach firearms courses. This gun ban was issued in 2023 by the federal Liberals. It was an order that banned good people's guns. So whether it's hunting, target shooting or just shooting for fun, they've been hit hard. So they have some views on this. It banned certain types of guns, only some, but what it banned were good people's guns. I teach the PAL course. They take the class and exam, legally obtain a firearms licence, then legally buy these guns. They go hunting or target shooting. As a... we call shooting a sport. It's even in the Olympics, right? It really is a sport. And hunting we call an outdoor activity. They're all good people who've never had any trouble. So when you ban those guns, obviously we're not happy. So why did I tell Chak Au? Because Chak Au has now joined the federal Conservatives, and the federal Conservatives' platform, during the campaign, included repealing the gun ban. So I support him. In this situation, as a provincial party, all we can do is support the federal Conservatives, or get our message, through the federal Conservatives' platform, to the federal Liberals. Or if one day we want to run federally, only at election time could we say this and have people listen. That's the only way. That is, for certain issues. Then how do you tell good from bad? I don't get that part.

[5:00] Firearms licences and background checks

What I mean by good and bad people is: after you pass the exam and apply for a licence, the RCMP will run a background check on you, to see if you have a criminal record. If you don't have a criminal record, they issue you a licence. So everyone holding a licence has been verified by the government as someone with no criminal record. Those are who I call good people. If you have a criminal record, you can't get a licence. Those are who I call people who aren't good. But some people have never committed a crime, and then one day, suddenly... right? There are people like that. Yes, there are. If you hold a licence now and suddenly get a criminal record, they'll just revoke it. So the people who actually hold licences are really all good people, who obey the law and have never had a criminal record. You've banned these people's guns, but these people aren't the ones making society unstable. The people who really make society unstable aren't among us. They don't have licences, but they have guns too, probably from the black market. That's what I told Chak Au, and he agreed, because the federal Conservatives agree that you shouldn't ban good people's guns, but should put some restrictions on illegal channels. That's how it is.

[6:21] Running federally in 2008

So some issues differ depending on the election, since I've run at all three levels of government. In 2008 I ran for MP. When I ran for federal MP, I said Chinese should become an official language. At that level, you can say that. My reasoning for saying Chinese should be an official language was: if French can be one, why can't there be a third language? Because this country calls itself multicultural. It didn't say monocultural, and it didn't say bicultural either, right? So after I put that forward, some non-Chinese reporters felt what I said had a point. It made sense, it wasn't nonsense. I said, exactly. One said, then tell me: if all of Canada adopted Chinese as a third language, wouldn't our government spending go up? Wouldn't taxes have to go up? I said no. I only want it in some places. That's enough. Say, in Vancouver and Toronto, where there are many Chinese and few French speakers. Government documents don't need to be in English and French. Change the French part to English and Chinese. You waste no resources at all, yet the number of us who can benefit from government services gets huge. He said, "Wow, that's a really good point." So I said back then: at Vancouver's airport, could you make the signs in Chinese? Skip the French signs. That way, you're not adding any cost. And wouldn't it be easier for us arriving? He said that made sense. That reporter was a national... a CBC reporter. He said, I'll help you spread the word, right?

[7:46] Chinese signs at YVR

And sure enough, this was 20-some years ago, Vancouver's airport suddenly had Chinese signs and all that, right? It's simple. What I say, if it makes sense, through legitimate media, reaches today's politicians. If they see me, this person represents some people too, since a candidate speaks for part of the public. So if what this person says makes sense, can't we make improvements? And they did. So through this platform we speak up, and that voice represents part of the community. If those in power think it's worth considering and make improvements, then my job is done. In Canadian society, we all carry a dream, and we all hope society keeps getting better and more complete, and truly serves ordinary people. That's really true. Lao Chen, I can see that for Canada's development, people's livelihoods and better lives, I think you really are doing a lot of practical work. We use legitimate platforms to push for society's healthy development. So people can see my intentions are right. This country really does have these platforms. For example, earlier we formed a party, and we launched a movement to help our people find jobs.

[9:06] Speaking Mandarin at the bank

You may not have heard of it. In the early days, when we first came in the 2000s, we were all skilled immigrants. You were a skilled immigrant too, right? I came as an international student. International student, right. The biggest problem for skilled immigrants here was that we couldn't find jobs because our language wasn't good. So what could we do? Our party launched a campaign: whenever we spend money, we only speak Mandarin. That would lead society to hire more Mandarin-speaking staff. Let me give you an example. A bank: one day I went to open an account. I walked in and said I'm here to open an account. A clerk came and spoke English. I said, English no. Don't understand. He asked what language. I said Mandarin. "Hold on." I said, if you don't have someone who speaks Mandarin, I'm leaving. I won't open an account. I have $5,000 here I want to deposit. "Don't go, have a seat, we'll find someone. We may have someone in the back who speaks Mandarin." OK. After a while, I sat a bit, and sure enough a young Taiwanese woman came. She came over: "Hello, sir, what can I..." Then she looked: "Wait a minute..." I was a realtor then, I had some TV ads. "Lao Chen? Is that Lao Chen?" I said, yes. "You speak English. How come... why did you say you don't?" You did it so that the bank's management would know how important Chinese is. If they don't hire staff who can speak Chinese, they could lose some customers. I said, I came today to tell your manager: because you served me, my $5,000 is going in here. Without you, I'd have turned and walked out. I want him to know that in Richmond now it's not just me. There are many people who really can't speak English well, who really brought money from China to open accounts. Do you want to win these customers? If you do, if you can hire a teller who speaks Mandarin, your bank will surely get lots of customers, right? And from then on, you'd find every bank had Mandarin-speaking tellers right at the front counter. That's the movement our party launched. We didn't break any laws. We just felt like speaking Mandarin. And it's true some of us really can't speak English, like investor immigrants. They need to deposit money. So banks, and later even phone companies, like Telus, all hired Mandarin-speaking staff, right? So our movement let ordinary people feel that the government really cared about us. Ours is a very constructive suggestion. It helps society move forward, so newcomers don't feel this place is foreign, but warm. Isn't that the point? That's the true original purpose behind our running in elections.

[11:46] Twenty years of speaking up

Since 2007, your party has been around for 20 years, always thinking for the community and planning, listening to everyone, right? Bit by bit, carrying it upward, speaking up. You've made a great effort. I can see you really want this country to do well, want ordinary people to live happily. I think you've done so much. Great work, kudos. We use legal channels to speak for the people, and lawful means to promote society's healthy development. That's all.