Vincent Ke

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]

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 Ford's chief of staff in November 2022 about Ke, 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]

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]

v t e 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]

v t e 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) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18. "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21.

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]