This isn’t Steven Kou’s first crack at seeking public office for Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party.
In 2015, the accountant was the runner-up to NDP incumbent Don Davies in Vancouver Kingsway. Star candidate Tamara Taggart, the former TV news anchor, is challenging Davies in the Oct. 21 federal election.
Steven Kou, the Liberal candidate in Richmond Centre (Bob Mackin)
At the end of August, Surrey resident Kou was installed, without a nomination vote, by Liberal Party headquarters as the candidate in Richmond Centre. Should Kou upset Conservative incumbent Alice Wong, he promises to shut down his Ekon Wealth Management business in Richmond and move to the riding.
That was the firmest position on any topic that Kou took in a wide-ranging, Sept. 9 interview with theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin.
Mackin asked Kou about Trudeau’s conflict of interest in the SNC-Lavalin scandal, the campaign to end birth tourism in Richmond and concerns about money laundering affecting the economy and the housing market.
A recurring theme of Kou’s answers was his need to gather facts and talk to experts, should he win on Oct. 21.
Kou was also asked for his stance on the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and China’s human rights record, including the jailing of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Relevant issues in a city where 54% of residents are ethnic Chinese and 59% of immigrants since 2011 came from China.
“The Hong Kong government, the China government or Taiwan government, no matter, I think maybe they have their own wise man, and they have their own solutions for their situations,” Kou said. “But in Canada, we enjoy the freedoms given by the Charter of Freedom and Rights (sic).”
Listen to excerpts from the interview with Kou. Plus commentaries and Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.
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