Mary Ng

The Honourable Mary Ng PC MP
伍鳳儀
Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion
Incumbent
Assumed office July 18, 2018
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Bardish Chagger (Minister of Small Business and Tourism)
Member of Parliament for Markham—Thornhill
Incumbent
Assumed office April 3, 2017
Preceded by	John McCallum
Personal details
Born	(1968-12-16) December 16, 1968 Hong Kong
Political party	Liberal

Mary Ng PC MP (born December 16, 1968) is a Canadian politician who represents the riding of Markham—Thornhill in the House of Commons of Canada. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Ng was elected in a by-election on April 3, 2017, and was appointed Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion on July 18, 2018.

Early life

Ng, born in Hong Kong, is the eldest child of three. In the 1970s, Ng's parents immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong, later establishing a family-owned restaurant in Toronto, Ontario. Along with her brother and sister, Ng grew up working in the family’s restaurant.

Ng attended the University of Toronto.

Career

Ng has worked for 20 years in the public service, focusing on the areas of education, women's leadership, job-creation, and entrepreneurship.

Early career

From 1991 to 2003, Ng worked as a public servant in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Cabinet Office Ontario.

Ministry of Education

In the 2003 Ontario provincial election, the Liberals won a majority government.

From 2003 to 2006, Ng served as the Director of Policy to the Minister of Education, Gerard Kennedy. In response to the previous years of unease in the education sector under the previous two governments, Ng worked to rebuild relationships with the students and teachers’ unions.

Throughout this period, Ng worked with teachers’ unions and school boards to secure historical four year contracts, helping to foster better relationships and restore peace and stability to Ontario’s education system

Ryerson University

From 2006 to 2008 and then again from 2011 to 2015, Ng served in the President’s Office at Ryerson University. In this role, Ng assisted then President Sheldon Levy in shaping new initiatives at the dynamic entrepreneurial institution.

As part of her commitment to connect students and their innovative ideas with businesses ultimately creating quality jobs for young Canadians, Ng aided in the creation of Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ), a world leading accelerator for tech startups in Canada.

Federal politics

In 2017, Ng took on a public leadership role seeking elected office.

"As a woman of diversity, I feel this is a good time to take that next step," Ng said at the time. "Participation matters. People do have voices. People can effect change. Greater participation means that our institutions, and people like me, are accountable to many."

Member of Parliament

As Member of Parliament for Markham—Thornhill, Ng said her mandate came from the people. "The things that are important to me are the things that are important to the people in my riding."

Ng helped to facilitate the government's commitment to invest in Canadian ideas and innovators in her riding by advocating for the inclusion of Markham's tech-innovation hub, VentureLabs, in the Southern Ontario Supercluster. The Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster is expected to have a GDP impact of more than $13.5 billion in the next ten years and create more than 13,500 quality middle-class jobs in the region.

As part of her work on the Standing Committee of Industry, Science, and Technology, Mary worked alongside her committee colleagues on Intellectual Property best practices. This work guided the government's launch of the country's first comprehensive Intellectual Property strategy, providing tools to support the growth of Canadian businesses domestically while ensuring their ideas are protected in the global marketplace.

Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion

Ng was appointed Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion in July 2018.

Personal life

The first born child of a young couple in Hong Kong when social stereotypes around gender enforced the traditionally held belief that boys were a blessing, Ng often speaks of the defining choice her father made when she was only a baby to raise her to believe that she could do anything a boy could do.

Ng defines her father as being a hardworking feminist father who instilled in her a deep respect for herself and an empathy towards others and their experiences.

Electoral record

Canadian federal by-election, April 3, 2017: Markham—Thornhill (federal electoral district) Resignation of John McCallum
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Mary Ng	9,856	51.53	−4.19
	Conservative	Ragavan Paranchothy	7,501	39.22	+6.91
	New Democratic	Gregory Hines	671	3.51	−7.21
	Progressive Canadian	Dorian Baxter	566	2.96
	Green	Caryn Bergmann	426	2.23	+0.98
	Libertarian	Brendan Thomas Reilly	118	0.62
	Independent	Above Znoneofthe	77	0.40
Total valid votes/expense limit			19,125	100.0	–
Total rejected ballots				-
Turnout			27.51
Eligible voters			69,838
	Liberal hold		Swing		−5.55