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Meet your MLAs: Teresa Wat (Richmond North Centre)

By Don Fennell

Published 11:27 PST, Fri November 27, 2020

Last Updated: 2:13 PDT, Wed May 12, 2021

When Teresa Wat left her native Hong Kong in 1989 to study journalism at the University of Hawaii, she was surprised to discover how much political talk was taboo.

At least in general discussion.

“You don’t have democracy without the right to vote, and we should have politics as a (school) subject so the younger generation can see politics as more than if they were studying history,” says Wat, recently re-elected to her third consecutive term as MLA for Richmond North Centre. “My daughter (who grew up and was educated in Richmond) said they hardly talked about politics when she was in school.”

Having hosted many coffee dates with her constituents through the years, she says sadly relatively few people drop by. Most are repeat visitors or have a particular interest in politics.

A self-described bookworm growing up, Wat enthusiastically adopted her father’s interest in current affairs.

“I remember he subscribed to the daily Chinese language paper throughout the years, and he was always waiting for them on our doorstep,” she says. “It’s why I picked journalism as a major, so when I came to BC, after a brief secretarial job and being news editor for a multi-cultural station (eventually becoming its CEO), I started becoming interested in local politics.”

In 1996 she took a job with the province—then as now governed by the NDP—in communications, directly responsible for reaching out to the multi-cultural community. She stayed in the job for almost six years before being laid off—ironically while Premier Gordon Campbell’s Liberals, a party she would ultimately wind up joining, were governing the province. 

After a return to journalism, and overseeing the first-ever multi-language news programming on Channel M, she decided to enter the political arena in 2013. She was elected to represent the residents of what was then known as Richmond Centre (and since split into two ridings), succeeding Liberal incumbent Rob Howard who retired. Premier Christy Clark appointed Wat to the portfolio of Minister of International Trade, Responsible for the Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism.

Wat won re-election in 2017 in the new Richmond North Centre riding with 52 per cent of the votes, and the just-completed 2020 election a comparable 51 per cent of votes.


It was her late husband Stephen, who passed away in 2011, that prompted Wat to go into politics. A fellow journalism student in Hong Kong, he always reminded her of being grateful to be able to immigrate to Canada and give back to the community.

“He and I were totally different,” she says. “My mother used to say she didn’t have the opportunity to pursue a secondary education and always regretted not having her own career. She always instilled in me as a girl the need to be fully independent, so I could look after myself. My husband was always interested in volunteer work. When he was struck by cancer in 2003 he was given a year to live, but thank God that was expanded to seven years.”

Wat strives to connect with all her constituents, and to serve as a bridge for newcomers.

She has also earned a reputation for being straightforward. What you see is what you get, a Liberal colleague once said of her. She doesn’t feel it is fair to give people hope or make promises and then not deliver.

“If you can’t let (constituents) know the possibilities in front of them don’t try to fool them that something can be done,” she says. “Sometimes it can upset them, but it’s not right otherwise.”


Wat says getting into politics comes with sacrifices, but it’s a labour of love.

“I’m grateful and honoured that the constituents have entrusted me for a third term in a row, and this is an honour I won’t take lightly.”

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