Michael Ma
Canadian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Ma (Chinese: 馬榮錚; pinyin: Mǎ Róngzhēng[1]) is a Canadian politician who has served as a member of Parliament (MP) for Markham—Unionville since 2025. A member of the Liberal Party, Ma was elected in the April 2025 federal election as a Conservative, before crossing the floor in December.
Michael Ma | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Markham—Unionville | |||||||||
| Assumed office April 28, 2025 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Paul Chiang | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | |||||||||
| Party | Liberal (since 2025) | ||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (until 2025) | ||||||||
| Website | mpmichaelma | ||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 馬榮錚 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 马荣铮 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Early life and education
Political career
2019 federal election
Ma unsuccessfully ran in Don Valley East in the 2019 election as a Conservative, losing to incumbent Liberal MP Yasmin Ratansi.
2025 federal election
Ma was appointed as the Conservative Party's candidate in Markham—Unionville on the day the general election was called.[3] He initially ran against incumbent Liberal MP Paul Chiang, who withdrew from the race after suggesting to a media outlet that a political opponent, Joe Tay, could be turned into the Chinese consulate in return for a bounty.[4] Chiang was replaced as the Liberal candidate by Peter Yuen. Ma ultimately defeated Yuen and flipped the seat for the Conservatives.[5]
45th Canadian Parliament
On December 11, 2025, Ma crossed the floor to join the governing Liberal caucus, citing the "steady, practical approach" of Prime Minister Mark Carney. At the time, the move put the Liberals within one seat of a majority government.[6][7] He was the second Conservative MP to cross to the Liberals in the 45th Parliament, after Chris d'Entremont of Acadie—Annapolis crossed the floor in November.[8]
In January 2026, Ma joined Prime Minister Mark Carney on his trip to China and Qatar.[9]
Electoral history
| 2025 Canadian federal election: Markham—Unionville | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Michael Ma | 27,055 | 50.65 | +8.22 | ||||
| Liberal | Peter Yuen | 25,133 | 47.05 | –1.18 | ||||
| New Democratic | Sameer Qureshi | 723 | 1.35 | –5.20 | ||||
| Green | Elvin Kao | 506 | 0.95 | –1.84 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 53,417 | 64.13 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 83,289 | |||||||
| Conservative notional gain from Liberal | Swing | +4.70 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[10][11] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Don Valley East | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Yasmin Ratansi | 25,295 | 59.81 | +1.98 | $74,656.45 | |||
| Conservative | Michael Ma | 10,115 | 23.92 | -5.31 | $66,318.23 | |||
| New Democratic | Nicholas Thompson | 4,647 | 10.99 | +0.63 | none listed | |||
| Green | Dan Turcotte | 1,675 | 3.96 | +1.37 | $3,743.20 | |||
| People's | John P. Hendry | 562 | 1.33 | - | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 42,294 | 99.98 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 438 | 1.02 | +0.41 | |||||
| Turnout | 42,732 | 64.23 | -1.31 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 66,530 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +3.65 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[12][13] | ||||||||
