Xiao Hua Gong
Canadian businessman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xiao Hua Gong (Chinese: 龚晓华; pinyin: Gōng Xiǎohuá; born c. 1965), also known as Edward Gong, is a Chinese-Canadian businessman, perennial candidate, and former theatre director. Gong served as deputy director of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade from 2013 to 2016. He is the owner of Canada National Television (CNTV), a Chinese-language TV station based in Markham, Ontario.[1]
Xiao Hua (Edward) Gong | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
龚晓华 | |||||||||||||||
| Deputy Director of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade | |||||||||||||||
| In office 2013–2016 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 1965 (age 60–61) | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Independent (since 2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Businessman, politician | ||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 龔曉華 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 龚晓华 | ||||||||||||||
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In 2023, he ran for mayor of Toronto, finishing 11th with 2,983 votes (0.4% of votes cast). During the campaign, media queried the quantity and cost of his election advertising.
Gong also ran in the 2024 Mississauga mayoral by-election, where he placed ninth. Gong was eligible to run according to a representative as he is a property owner in the city.[2]
Gong ran in the 2025 Canadian federal election in Don Valley North as an independent.[1]
As Edward Gong, he is a candidate in the 2026 Toronto mayoral election.[1]
Biography
Gong was born in China, where he worked as a theatre director, putting on opera and Shakespeare plays. In 2002, he moved to Canada, and in 2008, he obtained Canadian citizenship and abandoned his Chinese citizenship.[3] Gong acquired hotels in Toronto and Michigan, including the Edward Hotel & Convention Center, and started two Chinese-language television stations.[3]
In 2013, Gong became a deputy director on the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and was part of a 2014 Chinese delegation led by vice premier Wang Yang to Finland and Slovenia.[3]
He was known for appearing in a 2016 photo with Justin Trudeau at a Toronto Chinese Community fundraiser.[4] The group is shown making dumplings, Gong's presence drew attention to Trudeau's cash-for-access dealings.[5]
Pyramid scheme
Starting in 2017, Gong was investigated by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the New Zealand Police, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada over his financial dealings. According to the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), Gong allegedly fraudulently sold stock in O24, his health-supplements company, to people in China, and stored $140 million in Canadian bank accounts, and most of the remainder in New Zealand bank accounts.[3]
Gong and his company, Edward Enterprise International Group Inc., faced criminal charges in Canada over the scheme. In February 2021, as part of a settlement agreement, Gong pleaded guilty in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (SCJ) on behalf of his company to forging documents and pyramid scheme selling and had his four personal charges withdrawn. Gong had challenged the use of evidence allegedly coerced from him by Chinese authorities. As part of the settlement, the SCJ fined Gong's company, $756,000, imposed a $229,500 victim surcharge and ordered $15 million to be paid to the Canada Revenue Agency.[3]
In June 2021, Gong forfeited NZ$68 million and some Auckland-based property to the New Zealand government as part of a settlement over pyramid scheme activities in the country. According to the New Zealand Police, it was the largest forfeiture of the proceeds of crime in New Zealand history since the implementation of the forfeiture law in 2009. His accounts in the country had previously been frozen in 2018.[3]
In 2022, the Ontario Securities Commission brought a regulatory enforcement case against Gong, arguing that he committed securities fraud and unregistered trading during his operation of the pyramid scheme. In November 2022, Gong challenged the OSC's use of information it had obtained in its investigation that had previously been used in the criminal case. The Capital Markets Tribunal rejected Gong's challenge in February 2023, and that rejection was upheld by the SCJ in June 2023.[6]
2023 Toronto mayoral run
In 2023, Gong ran for Mayor of Toronto, with campaign promises including hiring 1,000 new police officers, cutting property taxes by $1,000 and making public transit free to ride for riders aged over 55 or under 18.[7]
During the campaign, media queried the quantity and cost of his election advertising,[8][7] with ads posted on television, buses and subway stations. He also posted his advertisement on one of the giant illuminated billboards at Yonge–Dundas Square (now Sankofa Square) in downtown Toronto.[8][9] He also participated in the 2023 Toronto Pride parade, with Gong on a float, dressed in a superhero-style outfit sounding a gong.[10]
Gong finished 11th with 2,983 votes (0.4% of votes cast).[11] The following day, Gong questioned the results and called for a recount on Twitter.[12]
In Student Vote Toronto, a mock by-election, 21.7 percent of participating elementary and secondary students voted for Gong placing him in second place after Olivia Chow with 23.4 percent. Some schools voted Gong by over 50 percent.[9]
2024 Mississauga mayoral run
Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga, was elected the Ontario Liberal Party leader in December 2023.[13] Subsequently, she announced her resignation as mayor the next day,[14] vacating the seat in January.[15] The 2024 Mississauga mayoral by-election was soon called.[16]
Gong registered as a mayoral candidate on the second last day for registration. A spokesperson told the Toronto Star newspaper that Gong owns property in the city, qualifying him for the run.[2]
Gong placed 9th overall in the election with 0.43% of the vote.[17]
2025 Canadian federal election
In the 2025 Canadian federal election, Gong ran as an MP with no party affiliation in the Don Valley North Riding.[18] He finished with 260 votes (0.5%), putting him last place in the riding.
Yet in Student Vote Canada 2025, the mock student election, Gong finished third with 13.62% of the vote, ahead of the New Democrat candidate.[19]
2026 Toronto mayoral election
On May 6, he registered for the 2026 Toronto mayoral election.[20]
Electoral record
Federal
| 2025 Canadian federal election: Don Valley North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Maggie Chi | 25,822 | 53.22 | +0.45 | ||||
| Conservative | Joe Tay | 20,546 | 42.34 | +9.80 | ||||
| New Democratic | Naila Saeed | 1,191 | 2.45 | –7.47 | ||||
| Green | Andrew Armstrong | 448 | 0.92 | –0.89 | ||||
| No affiliation | Xiaohua Gong | 260 | 0.54 | N/A | ||||
| People's | Ivan Milivojevic | 260 | 0.54 | –2.41 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 48,531 | 62.63 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 77,486 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | –4.68 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[21][22] | ||||||||
Municipal
| Candidate | Popular vote | Expenditures | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | ||||||||||
| Carolyn Parrish | 43,494 | 31.06 | – | $524,816.30 | ||||||||
| Alvin Tedjo | 35,005 | 25.00 | – | $300,278,25 | ||||||||
| Dipika Damerla | 27,119 | 19.37 | – | $576,469.83 | ||||||||
| Stephen Dasko | 22,408 | 16.00 | – | $291,998.83 | ||||||||
| David Shaw | 2,843 | 2.03 | -6.80 | $4,511.51 | ||||||||
| Brian Crombie | 2,242 | 1.60 | – | $9,888.92 | ||||||||
| Frank Fang | 1,694 | 1.21 | – | $17,269.65 | ||||||||
| George Tavares | 962 | 0.69 | -4.63 | $163.42 | ||||||||
| Xiao Hua Gong | 598 | 0.43 | – | $45,166.50 | ||||||||
| Diya Atassi | 545 | 0.39 | – | $8,522.66 | ||||||||
| Zulfiqar Ali | 528 | 0.38 | – | $971.23 | ||||||||
| Mike Matulewicz | 424 | 0.30 | – | none listed | ||||||||
| Sinisa Mandrapa | 417 | 0.30 | – | $25,534.00 | ||||||||
| Sara Iqbal | 359 | 0.26 | – | $0.00 | ||||||||
| Jamie Dookie | 302 | 0.22 | – | $846.00 | ||||||||
| Nathalie Xian Yi Yan | 297 | 0.21 | – | $1,200.00 | ||||||||
| Mitchell MacEachern | 238 | 0.17 | – | $0.00 | ||||||||
| Winston Harding | 206 | 0.15 | – | $1,575.00 | ||||||||
| Mohsin Khan | 170 | 0.12 | – | $0.00 | ||||||||
| Syed Jaffery | 169 | 0.12 | – | $8,116.00 | ||||||||
| Total valid votes | 140,020 | 99.89 | ||||||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes | 161 | 0.11 | ||||||||||
| Turnout | 140,181 | 25.67 | +3.83 | |||||||||
| Eligible voters | 545,512 | |||||||||||
| Note: Candidate campaign colours are based on the prominent colour used in campaign items (signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates. | ||||||||||||
| Sources: City of Mississauga[23][24] | ||||||||||||
| 2023 Toronto mayoral by-election | ||
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Olivia Chow | 269,372 | 37.26 |
| Ana Bailão | 235,175 | 32.53 |
| Mark Saunders | 62,167 | 8.60 |
| Anthony Furey | 35,899 | 4.97 |
| Josh Matlow | 35,572 | 4.92 |
| Mitzie Hunter | 21,229 | 2.94 |
| Chloe Brown | 18,831 | 2.61 |
| Brad Bradford | 9,254 | 1.28 |
| Chris Saccoccia | 8,001 | 1.11 |
| Anthony Perruzza | 3,025 | 0.42 |
| Xiao Hua Gong | 2,983 | 0.41 |
| 91 other candidates | 23,130 | 3.20 |
| Total | 722,877 | 100.00 |
| Source: City of Toronto[25] | ||