| The Honourable John Yap 葉志明 |
|
|---|---|
| MLA for Richmond-Steveston | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 17, 2005 |
|
| Preceded by | Geoff Plant |
| Minister of State for Climate Action of British Columbia | |
| In office June 10, 2009 – March 14, 2011 |
|
| Premier | Gordon Campbell |
| Parliamentary Secretary for Clean Technology to the Minister of Energy and Mines | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office March 14, 2011 |
|
| Premier | Christy Clark |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 28, 1959 |
| Political party | BC Liberal Party |
| Spouse(s) | Suzanne Yap |
| Children | Lisa Yap, Michael Yap |
| Profession | Banking, financial planning |
John Yap MLA is a Canadian politician and is currently the Parliamentary Secretary for Clean Technology to the Minister of Energy and Mines. Since 2005 he has represented the riding of Richmond-Steveston in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He is a member of the BC Liberal Party. Originally from Singapore, Yap emigrated with his parents to Canada and to BC's Lower Mainland where he graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Masters of Business Administration and worked as a banker and financial advisor.
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John Yap was born in Singapore to a homemaker mother and a medical doctor father. Yap is of Chinese descent and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.[1] The family immigrated to Canada, settling in Greater Vancouver by 1976. John moved to Richmond, British Columbia in 1986. He attended the University of British Columbia, where he completed a Bachelors of Science and graduated with a Masters of Business Administration.[2] He went on to lead a twenty-years career in banking with Toronto-Dominion Bank and financial planning with the Investors Group.[3]
John is married with two grown children, a son and a daughter.[4] His wife, Suzanne Yap, graduated with a Commerce degree from Simon Fraser University. His son, Michael Yap, is currently doing his Bachelor of Arts at the University of British Columbia. His daughter, Lisa Yap, is doing a Bachelor of Communications at Simon Fraser University. Both Lisa and Michael are open champion level Irish dancers. For the past two decades, John and his family have resided in Richmond.
Yap is a member and past-president (1999–2000) of the Richmond Sunset Rotary Club and an honourary member of the Vancouver Diamond Lions Club.[5] He was heavily involved with the Gilmore Park United Church and the Gilmore Gardens Seniors Centre. He served as board chair of the seniors centre during his 2005 election run in which he promoted seniors issues.[6]
In the Richmond-Steveston riding, Yap had worked on Geoff Plant's 1996 election campaign and worked as Plant's campaign chairman in the 2001 election.[7] After Plant announced his retirement Yap nominated himself to represent the BC Liberals in the riding during the next election. Plant vocally supported Yap's candidacy and Yap was acclaimed uncontested.[7][8]
In the 38th Provincial General Election, held on May 17, 2005, Yap was elected to the 38th Parliament of British Columbia. He defeated three other candidates in the Richmond-Steveston riding: an Indo-Canadian employment-agency owner and NDP candidate Kay Hale, the Green Party candidate Egidio Spinelli, and the Democratic Reform BC candidate Daniel Ferguson. As an Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 38th Parliament Yap was a member of the Treasury Board and served on several committees: the Legislative Review Cabinet Committee, and the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture, and the Select Standing Committees of Public Accounts, Crown Corporations, and Finance and Government Services. In September 2006, Yap was elected by his peers to be the Chair of the BC Government Caucus.
In the 39th Provincial General Election, held on May 12, 2009, Yap was re-elected, defeating three other candidates: the NDP candidate and retired medical transcriptionist Sue Wallis,[9] the Green Party candidate, as well as Barry Chilton who was the former BC Conservative Party leader. Yap was retained as Minister of State for Climate Action during Gordon Campbell final cabinet shuffle, in October 2010. Yap supported the Province's move towards the Harmonized Sales Tax.[10] Yap also supported the Premier's initiative in income tax reduction to the first $72,000 of income, effective January 1, 2011.[11] In the 2011 BC Liberal Party leadership election Yap endorsed Kevin Falcon,[12] though Christy Clark eventually won.
He was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for Clean Technology to the Minister of Energy and Mines on March 14, 2011.
On June 10, 2009 British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell promoted Yap to the Executive Council of British Columbia as the Minister of State for Climate Action.[13] Yap was responsible for implementing British Columbia's Climate Action Plan and overseeing B.C.'s legislated carbon emissions reduction target of 33% by 2020.[14] Regarding climate action initiatives, Yap worked to ensure the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were carbon neutral,[15] and with various ministries he helped supervise the public sector's transition to carbon neutrality, increases in provincial fuel taxes (based on the fuel's carbon content),[16] the creation of a Crown corporation to administer B.C.-specific carbon off-sets (the Pacific Carbon Trust),[17] a memorandum of understanding with the California Air Resources Board regarding auto emission standards,[18] expanded recycling initiatives,[19] and a cap-and-trade system through the Western Climate Initiative.[20] Yap also signed agreements with Washington Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant on limiting carbon emissions from government operations and promoting awareness of the impacts of sea level rise on coastal areas.[21] On February 7, 2011 Yap and Terasen Gas provided $6.9 million for 35 energy projects in ten school districts to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and costs through British Columbia's Energy Conservation Agreement Fund.[22] In addition, Yap supported the $15-million, three-year LiveSmart BC for small businesses across B.C. to access free energy-efficiency advice, equipment and incentives.[23] “This program will allow thousands of B.C. small businesses to save money and reduce their energy consumption,” Yap said. “We know small businesses are the backbone of the economy and together we can work towards our climate action goals."[23]
Yap supported the first Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement (PSECA) as a partnership between BC Hydro and the Government of British Columbia.[24] This agreement achieved annual energy cost savings of close to $7.4 million, GHG reductions of over 18,700 tonnes and conservation of 38.6 GWh of electricity.[24]
On July 1, 2008 Yap implemented the British Columbia revenue carbon tax to fuels such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, heating fuel, propane and coal, and to peat and tires when used to produce energy or heat.[25] Carbon tax revenue is returned to taxpayers through tax reductions and is not used to fund government programs.[25] The refundable Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit ensures that low-income individuals and families are compensated for the tax.[25] This legislation was supplemented by a $100 Climate Action Dividend that was distributed to all British Columbians in 2008.[25]
Yap began a non-partisan program called the Youth Outreach Initiative Program (YOI) in 2008 to encourage youth involvement in the political process. The purpose of the YOI is to bridge the gap between the youth and the government. At Robert Cecil Palmer Secondary's Richmond School District's Student Leadership Conference (RSLC), Yap and his youth presenter educate and discuss issues such as lowering voting age to 16, mandatory voting laws, electronic voting options and increase classroom education.
| B.C. General Election 2009: Richmond-Steveston | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| BC Liberal | John Yap | 13,168 | 61% | +2 | $109,468 | |
| New Democrat | Sue Wallis | 5,925 | 27% | -4 | $17,718 | |
| Green | Jeff Hill | 1,491 | 7% | -1 | $350 | |
| BC Conservative | Barry Chilton | 1,082 | 5% | n/a | $450 | |
| Total Valid Votes | 21,666 | 100% | ||||
| Total Rejected Ballots | 167 | 0.76% | ||||
| Turnout | 21,833 | 52% | ||||
| B.C. General Election 2005: Richmond-Steveston | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| BC Liberal | John Yap | 13,859 | 59% | |
| New Democrat | Kay Hale | 7,334 | 31% | |
| Green | Egidio Spinelli | 1,934 | 8% | |
| Democratic Reform BC | Daniel Stuart Ferguson | 282 | 1% | |
| Total Valid Votes | 23,409 | 100% | ||
| Total Rejected Ballots | 152 | 0.65% | ||
| Turnout | 23,561 | 60% | ||
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