Vincent Ke
Canadian politician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wenbin "Vincent" Ke (Chinese: 柯文彬) is a Canadian politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario, representing the riding of Don Valley North from 2018 until 2025. Originally elected as a Progressive Conservative (PC), he stepped down from the caucus on March 10, 2023 following allegations of involvement in Chinese government election interference. He is the second mainland-Chinese Canadian immigrant elected as a PC MPP.[1]
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Vincent Ke | |||||||||||
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柯文彬 | |||||||||||
Ke in 2019 | |||||||||||
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Don Valley North | |||||||||||
| In office June 7, 2018 – January 28, 2025 | |||||||||||
| Preceded by | Riding established | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jonathan Tsao | ||||||||||
| Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery | |||||||||||
| In office June 29, 2022 – March 10, 2023 | |||||||||||
| Minister | Kaleed Rasheed | ||||||||||
| Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries (Culture and Sport)[note 1] | |||||||||||
| In office June 26, 2019 – June 1, 2022 | |||||||||||
| Minister | Lisa MacLeod | ||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||
| Born | |||||||||||
| Party | Independent | ||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Progressive Conservative (until 2023) | ||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | Fuzhou University Ruhr University Bochum | ||||||||||
| Occupation | Politician | ||||||||||
| Website | vincentkempp | ||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Chinese | 柯文彬 | ||||||||||
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Background
Ke was born in Quanzhou, Fujian, China, and immigrated to Canada in 1998.[2] He holds an undergraduate degree in engineering from Fuzhou University in China and a Master's from Ruhr University in Germany.[3][4] Prior to his election, Ke worked for Conec—a German firm which has sites in Shanghai and Brampton—from 1999 to 2018; his role with the company was as an electronic engineer.[3] Ke is also registered as an insurance agent by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.[4][5]
Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), the province's regulatory body for engineers, instructed Ke to stop using the title of engineer following complaints that he was doing so without being licensed as a professional engineer with PEO.[3]
Political career
Ke ran in the 2018 provincial election as a PC candidate, and defeated Liberal candidate Shelley Carroll to be elected MPP in Don Valley North.[6] He was appointed as the parliamentary assistant to the minister of heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries (culture and sport) on June 26, 2019.[7]
During the 2022 provincial election, Ke and seven other PC MPPs were identified as having received an allowance from their PC riding associations, with Ke expensing meals, entertainment, gas and parking.[8] While allowed by provincial law, federal politicians are prohibited from doing the same, raising questions about aligning provincial and federal allowance rules.[8][9] Ke defeated Liberal Jonathan Tsao to win a second term,[10] and was appointed as the parliamentary assistant to the minister of public and business service delivery on June 29, 2022.[11]
Allegations of Chinese government interference
Ke's ties to the Chinese consulate were questioned by National Post writer Tom Blackwell in a 2019 article.[4] In particular, Blackwell reported that Ke maintained ties with groups linked to the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department.[4] Blackwell provided Ke's office with a list of questions about his connections to the Chinese government including the possibility he joined the Chinese Communist Party, his ties with the Chinese consulate and a 2013 trip to China for a government-run workshop. In response, Ke's office said that he was "honoured to be a part of Doug Ford’s government" and that he would focus on "ensuring a strong voice for the constituents of Don Valley North at Queen’s Park".[4] Premier Doug Ford's office also provided a response, stating that "MPP Ke is an important part of the Progressive Conservative caucus and represents his constituents with their best interests in mind".[4]
In a 2021 article, Blackwell criticized Ke for seeming "over-eager to defend China, rather than being too worried about anti-Chinese hate," after Ke and Scarborough—Agincourt MPP Aris Babikian spoke out about a sign at a Chinese physician's office describing COVID-19 as "Wuhan pneumonia" in Chinese.[12]
On March 10, 2023, Global News reported that Ke served as a financial intermediary for the Chinese consulate as part of election interference efforts.[13] Ke denied the allegations and resigned from the Ontario PC caucus on the same day, so that he would not be a "distraction to the government and take away from the good work Premier Ford is doing for the province of Ontario".[14] Ford's office stated that "While the allegations against Mr. Ke are not proven, they are serious and deserve his full and undivided attention as he works to clear his name".[14] Ford later said "I have confidence that his name will be cleared", and that he would welcome Ke back into caucus if that occurred.[15]
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) had previously briefed the Ford's chief of staff in November 2022, which Ford described as sparse and "very secretive".[15]
In April 2023, Ke said that he had served Global News with a libel notice concerning their reporting about him.[16]
2025 election
Ke was not readmitted to caucus and ran in the 2025 Ontario general election as an independent candidate, but was unsuccessful. Liberal Jonathan Tsao was elected with Ke placing third behind PC candidate Sue Liu; Ke's vote total was greater than Tsao's margin of victory over Liu.[10]
Electoral record
| 2025 Ontario general election: Don Valley North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Jonathan Tsao | 13,375 | 43.77 | +6.94 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Sue Liu | 11,484 | 37.58 | –9.83 | ||||
| Independent | Vincent Ke | 3,005 | 9.83 | N/A | ||||
| New Democratic | Ebrahim Astaraki | 1,562 | 5.11 | –4.76 | ||||
| Green | Andrew Armstrong | 784 | 2.57 | –1.15 | ||||
| New Blue | Annie Nolan | 346 | 1.13 | –1.04 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 30,556 | 99.29 | –0.13 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 219 | 0.71 | +0.13 | |||||
| Turnout | 30,775 | 38.00 | –2.76 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 80,978 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +8.39 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[17][18] | ||||||||
| 2022 Ontario general election: Don Valley North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Vincent Ke | 15,041 | 47.41 | +2.97 | $61,647 | |||
| Liberal | Jonathan Tsao | 11,685 | 36.83 | +5.91 | $88,913 | |||
| New Democratic | Ebrahim Astaraki | 3,133 | 9.87 | −11.00 | $16,187 | |||
| Green | Ostap Soroka | 1,179 | 3.72 | +1.16 | $823 | |||
| New Blue | Jay Sobel | 690 | 2.17 | $924 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 31,728 | 99.42 | +0.40 | $109,620 | ||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 185 | 0.58 | −0.40 | |||||
| Turnout | 31,913 | 40.76 | −13.05 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 77,408 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | −1.47 | ||||||
Source(s)
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| 2018 Ontario general election: Don Valley North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Vincent Ke | 18,046 | 44.44 | |||||
| Liberal | Shelley Carroll | 12,557 | 30.92 | |||||
| New Democratic | Akil Sadikali | 8,476 | 20.87 | |||||
| Green | Janelle Yanishewski | 1,039 | 2.56 | |||||
| Libertarian | Sarah Matthews | 287 | 0.71 | |||||
| None of the Above | Alexander Verstraten | 202 | 0.50 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 40,607 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Rejected Ballots | 135 | |||||||
| Unmarked Ballots | 166 | |||||||
| Declined Ballots | 102 | |||||||
| Total Votes Cast | 41,010 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | ||||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[19][20][21] | ||||||||