Victor Oh Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Victor Oh
Office:Senator for Ontario
Term Start:January 25, 2013
Term End:June 10, 2024
Nominator:Stephen Harper
Appointer:David Johnston
Birth Date:10 June 1949
Birth Place:Colony of Singapore[1]
Spouse:Rosabella Chiu (赵从霓)
Party:Conservative Party of Canada

Victor Oh (Chinese: 胡子修, born June 10, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician who served as a Canadian senator from Ontario from January 2013 until his mandatory retirement in June 2024.[2] [3]

Early life

Oh was born in Singapore. In 1978, he immigrated to Canada with his wife and children.

Business career

Oh was the founding chairman of the Canada-China Business Communication Council and the former President of Wyford Holdings, a property development and management business.[4]

Senate of Canada

Oh is currently a member of the Standing Senate Committees on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Agriculture and Forestry and National Security and Defence. He is also a member of the Special Senate Committee on the Arctic.[5]

Oh is the vice-chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association and of the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group in addition to a member of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association, the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas and the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group. He has also held executive positions in a number of parliamentary friendship groups including Canada-Bulgaria, Canada-Indonesia, Canada-Malaysia, Canada-Nordic-Baltic, Canada-Peru and Canada-Singapore.

In 2016, Senator Oh was the head of the Canadian parliamentary delegation at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) held in Vancouver, British Columbia. On this same year, he joined the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank & International Monetary Fund, which provides a platform for parliamentarians from over 140 countries to advocate for increased accountability and transparency in International Financial Institutions and multilateral development financing.

Oh has also been involved in various initiatives to celebrate ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity in Canada.

Hazel McCallion, the former mayor of Mississauga, inspired Oh to get involved in public life. He notes that "her lifelong involvement with charitable work and her deep commitment to the public good was, and continues to be, a true testament of good leadership."[6]

In June 2023, Oh advocated for the establishment of a foundation that would sue "messy reporters" and politicians who "try to smear" Chinese people.[7]

Oh retired as a senator on June 10, 2024, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Conflict of interest investigation

In December 2017, it was reported that Victor Oh accepted trips to China paid for by the Chinese government or pro-Beijing business groups.[8] [9] In February 2020, the Senate's ethics watchdog found that Victor Oh broke the conflict of interest and ethics code by accepting and then failing to disclose an all-expenses-paid trip to China for himself and two other senators.[10] On June 18, the Senate Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee recommended that Oh be censured, and asked for him to apologize to the Senate.[11]

Recognition and awards

In 2011, Canadian Immigrant magazine named him one of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award Winners.[12]

Oh has served as the honorary chair of the board of the Canada Confederation of Shenzhen Associations (CCSA).[13]

Notes and References

  1. http://victoroh.ca/en/about/my-biography
  2. PM announces the appointment of five new senators . Prime Minister's Office . January 25, 2013 . January 25, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130520143845/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=1&featureId=6&pageId=26&id=5260 . May 20, 2013 . dead . mdy-all .
  3. Web site: June 10, 2024 . ‘I am grateful to my adopted country’: Senator Oh retires . 2024-06-10 . . en.
  4. Web site: Harper appoints five new senators - Document - Gale OneFile: CPI.Q. 2022-02-01. go.gale.com. 2 November 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231102224453/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=CPI&u=lond95336&id=GALE%7CA316395349&v=2.1&it=r&sid=bookmark-CPI&asid=00e51fd6. live.
  5. Web site: Senator Victor Oh . 2017-12-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190323135725/https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/oh-victor/ . 2019-03-23 . live .
  6. Web site: Meet Senator Victor Oh . 2017-01-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043516/https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/people/meet-senator-victor-oh . 2017-02-02 . live .
  7. Web site: 2023-06-23 . Sen. Victor Oh says Chinese Canadians need to fundraise to sue ‘messy reporters’ . 2023-06-24 . . en . 28 June 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230628132331/https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2023/06/23/sen-victor-oh-says-chinese-canadians-need-to-fundraise-to-sue-messy-reporters.html . live .
  8. News: Fife. Robert. Chase. Steve. December 1, 2017. Beijing foots bill for Canadian senators, MPs to visit China. The Globe and Mail. live. 2020-09-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20200324011229/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/beijing-foots-bill-for-visits-to-china-by-canadian-senators-mps/article37162592/. 2020-03-24.
  9. News: Nuttall. Jeremy J.. December 6, 2017. Parliamentarians Ignore Blockbuster Paid Travel Revelation. The Tyee. live. September 19, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20171206085445/https://thetyee.ca/News/2017/12/06/Parliamentarians-Ignore-Blockbuster-Paid-Travel-Revelation/. December 6, 2017.
  10. News: Fife. Robert. Senator broke ethics rules by accepting free travel to China. February 18, 2020. The Globe and Mail. 2020-02-22. live. Chase. Steven. https://web.archive.org/web/20200222045344/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-senator-broke-ethics-rules-by-accepting-free-travel-to-china/. February 22, 2020.
  11. News: Fife. Robert. Chase. Steven. June 18, 2020. Conservative Senator Victor Oh faces censure for free trip to China. The Globe and Mail. live. September 19, 2020. June 29, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200629073116/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-conservative-senator-victor-oh-censured-for-free-trips-to-china/.
  12. Web site: Canada's Top 25 Immigrants 2011 . 2021-06-18 . Canadian Immigrant . en-US . 29 February 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240229152618/https://canadianimmigrant.ca/canadas-top-25-immigrants/canadas-top-25-immigrants-2011 . live .
  13. Book: McGregor . Scott . The Mosaic Effect: How the Chinese Communist Party Started a Hybrid War in America's Backyard . Mitchell . Ina . . 2023 . 978-0-88890-324-2 . 160 . en . 1374491172 . ...the Canada Confederation of Shenzhen Associations (CCSA), which is connected to the Shenzhen Overseas Affairs Office and the Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Federation, which in turn are connected to the United Front Work Department. The chair of the CCSA's board of directors is Victor Oh, who is a member of the Canadian Senate. . 2023-10-24 . 31 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231031191302/https://books.google.com/books?id=HI1UEAAAQBAJ . live .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Victor Oh".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.