Chungsen Leung

The 58-year-old father and part-time bagpiper is running for MP in the Richmond Hill riding under the Conservative Party ticket and he will be looking to highland fling himself into parliament after the Oct. 14 federal election.

A relative newcomer to Richmond Hill politics, Mr. Leung looks to pip his opponents and provide some blue to an otherwise predominantly red sea of GTA Liberal ridings.

Having run in the 2000 federal election as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in the Willowdale riding, he felt it was time to throw his hat in the federal ring and give it another go, because if you ask Mr. Leung, Parliament needs him.

“I came to Canada in 1968 and I experienced everything an immigrant faces. Not to say that our Parliamentarians don’t know anything, but I can provide that outlook as an immigrant, to say this is how Canada can improve as we work toward being one of the best countries in the world,” he said.

Not to mention he is the only visible minority candidate in a town where visible minorities account for more than 40 per cent of the population.

This gives him an undeniable advantage over his opponents, giving many visible minorities the idea of a candidate who has walked a mile in their shoes and can take that experience to a Parliament, which Mr. Leung sees as lacking minority representation.

“I feel that visible minorities are totally under represented in the Canadian Parliament when it comes to the amount of minorities and immigrants in this country and the contribution they make to this society,” Mr. Leung said.

“All you have to do is walk around Richmond Hill and you’ll see that most of the restaurants are Asian,” he added.

But, eight years is a long time away from politics. After all, the last time Mr. Leung ran in a federal election he was with a party that no longer exists.

So, what was he up to these last eight years, besides learning to be a piper? Well, among other things, he built an award-winning environmentally friendly home for his allergy- sensitive wife.

“I researched and built a house that received six national awards for being environmentally friendly, being energy efficient and using new technology.

My wife has a hyper-sensitivity to all petroleum-based products, she can only handle natural-based fibres, so we live within surroundings of high environmental care,” Mr. Leung said.

“I also own a company that builds disaster relief houses, so environmentally speaking, I like to think I walk the walk and I talk the talk,” Mr. Leung said.

And though he boasts an impressive business career addressing environmental and transportation needs worldwide with the Canadian Urban Transportation Development Corporation, the fact remains that as a Conservative in York Region, Mr. Leung is fighting an uphill battle.

And if in the end hard work pays off for the piper, it appears that Chungsen Leung could take the high road, while his opponents take the low road and he end up in Ottawa before them.
   Adam Mc Lean