Representative Mary Ng Contact information

Mary Ng PC MP, born on December 16, 1969, is a Canadian politician who has made significant contributions as Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business, and Economic Development since 2018. She is a prominent member of the Liberal Party of Canada and has been serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Markham—Thornhill since winning a by-election on April 3, 2017.

Early Life: Mary Ng was born in British Hong Kong on December 16, 1969, and is the eldest among her two siblings. Her parents, Ng Yin-Foo and Ng Wan Lin, made the decision to immigrate to Canada from Hong Kong in the 1970s and subsequently established a family-owned restaurant, Ka-Hing Chinese & Szechuan Foods, located in Toronto, Ontario. Growing up, Mary, alongside her brother Ken and sister Vera, actively participated in the family business. In 1996, she graduated from the University of Toronto Scarborough with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in political science.

Career: Mary Ng has dedicated over two decades of her career to public service, with a particular focus on education, women’s leadership, job creation, and entrepreneurship. She has held various positions in the public sector, including working as a public servant in the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General and Cabinet Office. Additionally, Ng served as the director of policy to the Ontario education minister Gerard Kennedy. From 2006 to 2008 and then again from 2011 to 2015, she made significant contributions as a member of the President’s Office at Ryerson University.

Federal Politics: Following the resignation of MP John McCallum, Mary Ng announced her intention to seek the Liberal Party of Canada nomination for the riding of Markham—Thornhill in February 2017. She successfully won the nomination in March, triumphing over two other candidates. Subsequently, in the by-election held on April 3, 2017, she secured the seat as the Member of Parliament.

Member of Parliament: As an MP, Mary Ng played a crucial role in advocating for the inclusion of Markham’s tech-innovation hub, VentureLabs, in the Southern Ontario Supercluster, thereby facilitating the government’s commitment to investing in Canadian ideas and innovators. She actively participates in Parliamentary Associations such as the Canada-China Legislative Association and the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. However, her appointment of Michael Chan as her re-election campaign co-chair in June 2019 raised concerns regarding potential pro-Beijing influence in her campaign.

Cabinet Minister: In July 2018, Mary Ng was appointed Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion during a cabinet reshuffle. Following her re-election as MP in the 2019 federal election, she assumed the role of Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade, taking on the additional responsibility of overseeing trade negotiations and jointly contributing to Prime Minister Trudeau’s foreign policy. In 2019, her attendance at the People’s Republic of China’s 70th anniversary celebrations alongside Toronto consulate official Han Tao sparked concerns among some Torontonians Stand With Hong Kong members regarding her stance on Beijing-related matters.

Furthermore, after the 2021 election, Ng’s portfolio expanded to include Economic Development. In her current role, she oversees crown corporations such as Business Development Canada and Export Development Canada, along with promoting small businesses through grant funding. However, on December 13, 2022, the federal ethics commissioner, Mario Dion, released a report stating that Ng had violated ethics rules in 2019 and 2020 by failing to recuse herself and awarding two government media training contracts, worth $16,950 and $5,840, to the public relations firm Pomp&Circum

stance, which was co-founded by her long-time friend Amanda Alvaro. Ng issued an apology and acknowledged her failure to recuse herself in a statement, but she did not consider resigning or repaying the money following the ethics breach.