Liberal Party bars wife from vying to replace MP husband
Marital drama, tragedy, intrigue mark GTA nomination race
The Liberal Party has brought Laura Huang’s surprising bid to run in next month’s federal election to a sudden end, adding another wrinkle to a nomination contest already marked by marital drama and tragedy.
The party has rejected Huang as a potential candidate in Toronto’s Don Valley North riding, currently held by her husband, rookie MP Geng Tan.
Huang entered the race for the constituency’s Liberal nomination after Tan unexpectedly announced he would not run again. That revelation came as news emerged of his dispute with a woman who said she’d been having an affair with Tan for years.
Ying (Stella) Yu also worked as his constituency assistant, claims she had his baby and wants him to support the child. The MP has denied her allegations, saying only that he provided her with a sperm donation.
The nomination election is scheduled for Thursday.
Meanwhile, another politician running for the Liberals’ Don Valley North candidacy, ex-provincial cabinet minister David Caplan, died suddenly in a household “fire accident” in July.
The leading contender for the nomination now appears to be Han Dong, a former Liberal member of the Ontario legislature.
Neither Huang nor the party’s spokesman could be reached for comment Tuesday.
Dong said he heard on the weekend that he and another candidate for the nomination, Bang Gu Jiang, had been greenlit by the Liberals’ screening committee, and that Huang had been turned down. But he said he had no idea the reasons behind her disqualification.
“I’m just focused on winning the nomination and hopefully winning the election,” said Dong. “I’ve been an MPP before and I’m passionate about public service.”
Tan announced last December that he had been re-nominated to represent the party in the riding. He captured it in 2015, becoming the first Mandarin-speaking immigrant from mainland China elected to Parliament. But then on June 23, the MP revealed he would not run after all, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and pursue other careers.
Lawyers’ letters sent on Yu’s behalf and obtained by National Post allege that he had fathered the woman’s child during a lengthy affair, but refused to support the baby and brushed off Yu’s ensuing depression and suicide attempts.
She alleged Huang had intervened to have her fired from his constituency office in 2016.
Tan rejected the allegations, telling the Post he had only provided the sperm donation. Yu said it was used for in-vitro fertilization, since conceiving naturally would be difficult for a woman in her 50s.
But the controversy was apparently no deterrent to Huang, who had publicly backed her husband and soon afterward announced she was running for the nomination he had given up for family reasons.
A federal government scientist, she said she balanced her career with extensive community work.
“I work persistently and tirelessly in the pursuit to improve opportunities for children and youth, and put great efforts to encourage new immigrants to participate in Canadian society and politics,” Huang’s website said.
Among those endorsing Dong are ex-provincial cabinet minister Michael Chan and fired China ambassador John Mccallum, both prominent prochina political figures.
Also in Dong’s camp is Wei Chengyi, honorary chair of the Beijing-leaning Confederation of Toronto Chinese Canadian Organizations, who shook hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at an event for “overseas Chinese” earlier this year. The news conference announcing his candidacy was in Wei’s office.
But Dong rejected any suggestion that he was the pro-beijing candidate.
“I see myself as a Canadian running for Canadian public office,” he said.