Kevin Vuong

Kevin Vuong MP
Member of Parliament for Spadina—Fort York
Incumbent
Assumed office September 20, 2021
Preceded by	Adam Vaughan
Personal details
Born	c. 1989 (age 32–33)
Political party	Independent (2021–present)
Other political affiliations	Liberal (2021)
Alma mater	University of Western Ontario (BMOS) University of Toronto (LLM)
Profession	Businessman politician Military reserve officer
Military service
Branch/service	Royal Canadian Navy (reserve)
Years of service	2015–present
Rank	Sub-Lieutenant
Unit	HMCS York

Kevin Vuong MP (born c. 1989)^[1] is a Canadian politician serving as the member of Parliament (MP) for Spadina—Fort York since the 2021 federal election, sitting as an Independent. While Vuong appeared on the ballot as a Liberal, the party removed him as a candidate days before the election due to a lack of disclosure, following reports of an ongoing lawsuit against him, as well as a dropped sexual assault charge from 2019, which he failed to disclose during the party's internal vetting process. Prior to entering politics, Vuong worked in the business and finance industry and served as a reserve officer in the Royal Canadian Navy.

Background[]

Vuong's parents are refugees from the Vietnam War and were Vietnamese boat people. He grew up in Brampton, Ontario.^[1] He is the first in his family to attend and graduate from university; graduating from the University of Western Ontario in 2011, with a Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies (BMOS) degree before completing a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from University of Toronto Faculty of Law.^[1][2]

Vuong was a member of the Canadian Y20 delegation to the 2013 G20 Summit. He led multilateral negotiations for two working groups — international financial regulation and infrastructure development — and he and his team presented a final report to the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and other G20 leaders on combating global tax havens.^[3]

Business career[]

Vuong worked at a Toronto-Dominion Bank call centre during his first year of university, going to class from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and working 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the call centre. He interned a summer at TD Securities in his second year.^[2]

Upon graduation, Vuong joined Bay Street full time at TD Securities. While at TD, he volunteered his time with the United Way facilitating financial literacy workshops.^[4]

In 2016, Vuong was named by Corporate Knights Magazine as one of Canada’s Top 30 Under 30.^[1][5]

Vuong was appointed a medalist of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2017, when he was named HM The Queen’s Young Leader for Canada for his work reducing unemployment among underprivileged communities.^[6]

Military career[]

Vuong joined the Canadian Forces Naval Reserve as an intelligence officer. After three years, he completed an occupational transfer to join the public affairs branch, and was promoted to the rank of Sub-Lieutenant in 2021. He is currently under military investigation for failure to notify the Canadian Armed Forces in 2019 about the arrest for his sexual assault charge.^[7] Vuong served as a public affairs officer at HMCS York.^[1][2]

In November 2020, Vuong was named by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as NATO 2030 Young Leader for Canada,^[8] the only Canadian, to join 13 other leaders to advise him on the future of the 30-member Alliance.^[9][10]

Political career[]

Municipal politics[]

Vuong advocated for a price for congestion with Canada's Ecofiscal Commission, penning an opinion-editorial with economist Chris Ragan^[who?] that highlighted the social costs to youth and people of colour.^[11] He was co-chair of the Toronto Youth Equity Strategy,^[2] where he helped to secure $958,000 for youth social infrastructure^[5] and fought to give youth a meaningful role in police governance^[12] and racial discrimination and lost of trust in policing.^[13] This included the designation of an annual Youth Week in Toronto.^[12] Vuong also advocated for programming for vulnerable youth and against the cancellation of affordable "Youth Days" at the Canadian National Exhibition.^[12][14] He pushed the City of Toronto for specific roles, representation, and powers to young people, particularly in city planning issues.^[15] While pursuing his master's degree, he hosted a two-day summit to inspire a more sustainable and inclusive Toronto backed by United Nations (UN)-Habitat on the UN New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.^[16]

2018 Toronto City Council campaign[]

Vuong ran for Toronto City Council in Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York during the 2018 municipal election. His campaign was focused on highlighting the lack of services and infrastructure downtown, an understanding of vertical living that leveraged his many years as president of his condominium board, and climate adaptation and action for vertical communities.^[17] During the campaign, the conversion of King Street as a popular thoroughfare to a transit-focused street hit a flashpoint. Vuong organized "King Street Eats" to help local restaurants adapt and attract customers.^[18] He claims he was pressured to drop out of the race by incumbent councillor Joe Cressy.^[19] Vuong received an endorsement from the Toronto Sun.^[20]

2021 Canadian federal election[]

Shortly before 2021 Canadian federal election, the Toronto Star reported on August 10 that Vuong was expected to be tapped by the Liberal Party as the candidate for Spadina-Fort York following incumbent MP Adam Vaughan's surprise announcement of his retirement.^[21] The Liberals announced that he was acclaimed the candidate on August 13.^[22]

Legal issues[]

On September 1, 2021, The Globe and Mail and other media outlets reported that Vuong was also involved in a $1.5 million lawsuit filed against him for his mask making business, TakeCare Supply.^[22]

On September 16, the Toronto Star reported through the release of court documents that Vuong had been charged with sexual assault in 2019.^[23] The charges to this case were dropped shortly after.^[24] Vuong did not disclose either the withdrawn charge or the ongoing lawsuit to the Liberal Party, despite it being a requirement that he disclose such information during the vetting process.

Vuong has said that he would like to "unequivocally state that these allegations are false" and that "I vigorously fought these allegations when they were initially brought forward. The allegations were withdrawn. Had they not been withdrawn, I would have continued to defend myself against these false allegations",^[25] and that the "re-surfacing three days before the election is deeply troubling to me and my family".^[26] Vuong said the relationship was "a casual but intimate relationship" and that he "understood everything to be consensual."^[27] The Royal Canadian Navy would later charge Vuong on February 25, 2022, under the National Defence Act (NDA) for failing to disclose the initial sexual assault charge to his chain of command.^[28][29]

Reactions[]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the leader of the Liberal Party responded to the report on September 17, stating " We are a party that always takes seriously any allegations or reports of sexual harassment or intimidation or assault" and that "We are looking into it very carefully and we have asked the candidate to pause his campaign".^[25]

New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh said that Vuong had either "lied" to the Liberals,^[26] or the party knew about them anyways and was putting his ambitions "over the lives and well-being of women".^[30] Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole called on "Justin Trudeau must do the right thing and immediately fire this candidate and confirm that, if elected, this candidate will not sit in the Liberal caucus".^[30]

The Department of National Defence announced that the military would also review Vuong's file, as Vuong had failed to share the criminal charge with his chain of command.^[26]

On September 18, due to the lack of disclosure, the Liberals announced that Vuong would not be allowed to sit in Parliament as a Liberal if he won.^[31]

Member of Parliament[]

Vuong is currently the only sitting member of parliament of Vietnamese heritage. Despite being dropped by the Liberal Party and his ongoing legal issues, Vuong was elected to Parliament on September 20. Vuong announced his intention to sit as an Independent following the election.^[32]

On September 22, two days following the federal election, Vuong said on Twitter that he would "work hard to earn [voters'] trust" and that he intends to address his sexual assault allegations, stating: "I intend to address them at a later date more wholly in a dedicated forum."^[27] Vuong added that "allegations of sexual assault are a serious matter, deserving of more discussion than this statement can provide."^[33] Vuong later deleted the tweet containing the statement.^[27]

Ontario Liberal Party leader Steven Del Duca called for Vuong to "examine his conscience" to see if he could credibly take his seat even as an independent, "given the circumstances of the allegation" against him. He also said that Vuong not be allowed to run as a Liberal at the provincial level even if he was cleared.^[34] Vuong's predecessor, Adam Vaughan also called for Vuong to resign, saying that Vuong could not honourably take up a "compromised seat" that he had won via "a compromised victory".^[35]

On March 10, 2022, CBC News reported that the Royal Canadian Navy charged Vuong under the National Defence Act the prior month on February 25, 2022, for failing to disclose his initial arrest and charge for sexual assault to his chain of command in 2019.^[28][29]

Combating Anti-Racism[]

Vuong has raised the issue of racism and called on the federal government to take greater action to combat racism and, in particular anti-Asian hate.^[36] He is the sponsoring Member of Parliament for a petition to the House of Commons, initiated by Marvin Rotrand, that calls on the "Government of Canada deny public funding or assistance to any domestic and foreign non-governmental organizations who promote or engage in antisemitism, as defined in the IHRA working definition of antisemitism."

Russian Invasion of Ukraine[]

In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Vuong called for Canada to provide direct support to NATO allies Poland and Romania who have been sheltering Ukrainian refugees.[1]

On March 15, 2022, Vuong was among the list of 313 Canadian officials and parliamentarians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, sanctioned by and banned from Russia.[2]

Electoral record[]

2021 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Kevin Vuong	18,991	38.9	-16.90
	New Democratic	Norm Di Pasquale	16,833	34.5	+14.38
	Conservative	Sukhi Jandu	9,875	20.2	+2.63
	Green	Amanda Rosenstock	1,645	3.4	-1.83
	People's	Ian Roden	1,476	3.0	+1.92
Total valid votes			48,820
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			48,820	54.25
Eligible voters			89,998
Source: Elections Canada[37]

2018 Toronto municipal election, Ward 10 Spadina—Fort York
Candidate	Votes	Vote share
Joe Cressy	15,903	55.06%
April Engelberg	3,346	11.58%
Kevin Vuong	3,018	10.45%
Sabrina Zuniga	1,564	5.41%
John Nguyen	1,032	3.57%
Karlene Nation	860	2.98%
Rick Myers	747	2.59%
Dean Maher	611	2.12%
Al Carbone	519	1.8%
Andrew Massey	473	1.64%
Michael Barcelos	451	1.56%
Edris Zalmai	147	0.51%
Andrei Zodian	133	0.46%
Ahdam Dour	80	0.28%
Total	28,884	100%
Source: City of Toronto[38]

References[]