Chong joined the
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the late 1980s. He ran for parliament in the
2000 federal election as a Progressive Conservative, and finished third
Waterloo—Wellington against incumbent
Liberal Member of Parliament (MP)
Lynn Myers. Chong supported
Peter MacKay for the leadership of the federal PC party in 2003.
Backbencher (2004–2006) 38th Parliament In early 2004, the Progressive Conservatives merged with the
Canadian Alliance to create the Conservative Party of Canada. Chong joined the new party, and in March 2004 defeated Marty Burke to win its nomination for Wellington—Halton Hills. He was elected in the
2004 federal election, defeating Liberal
Bruce Hood by over 2,000 votes. Chong declared his personal support for the
Kyoto Protocol during the 2004 federal election, despite his party's opposition to the measure. He supported
Elizabeth Witmer's bid to lead the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in 2001–02, and supported
John Tory for the same position in 2004. Chong wrote an opinion editorial for
The Globe and Mail newspaper in late 2004 entitled "Canadians without hyphens", criticizing John Barber's suggestion that there were not enough
Chinese-Canadian MPs representing areas with large Chinese populations. Chong noted he was elected in a riding with a 97% Caucasian population, while
John McCallum was elected in
Markham—Unionville, which is more than 60% Asian. Chong argued that these results reflected his idea of Canada, adding that he favoured the creation of a "common Canadian identity that will allow for greater understanding among ethnic groups". Like most Conservative MPs, Chong voted against the legal recognition of
same-sex marriage in Canada in 2005. A majority of MPs from other parties supported the measure, however, and same-sex marriages were granted legal recognition. In December 2006, Chong reversed his previous position and became one of thirteen Conservative MPs to vote against re-opening the marriage debate. Chong has opposed using the
Great Lakes as a water source for inland communities. He has expressed concern about depopulation in rural Ontario, and supports continued door-to-door rural mail service programs.
Cabinet minister (2006) 39th Parliament: Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Sport Chong was re-elected in the
2006 federal election. In February 2006, he was appointed to the cabinet in Stephen Harper's government as
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs,
President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and Minister of Sport. He was the second Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister in Canadian history, after
Raymond Chan. In the buildup to the 2006 federal budget, Chong met with various provincial representatives to discuss ways of approaching Canada's equalization formula between the federal government and the provinces. Prior to the budget's release, he described the existing system as "a mess". Some politicians in Ontario expressed concern that the deal would be unduly favourable to Quebec and unfavourable to their province. Later in the year, Harper government indicated that it would automatically transfer future surpluses to the provinces..|leftIn September 2006, the Canadian media reported that the Harper government was considering a plan to transfer $3 billion to the provinces each year. Every province except Newfoundland and Labrador would gain revenue, with Quebec gaining the most at $1.1 billion. In early 2006, Chong said that his government would fulfill an election pledge to devote 1% of federal health spending (about $350 million) to health promotion and amateur sports. He represented the Harper government as a representative at the
2006 Commonwealth Games in
Melbourne, Australia. This funding did not appear in the 2006 budget, although the Harper government introduced an annual sports tax credit of $80 per child. In June 2006, Chong indicated that the federal government would not provide federal funding to the "Out Games", a gay-and-lesbian themed athletic competition held in
Montreal, Quebec. The following month, Chong provided $395,000 to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, to make its collection accessible online. He has also discussed the possibility of restarting
Canada's ParticipACTION program, which encourages ordinary citizens to become more involved in sports and athletic events. The program was restarted in February 2007, after Chong resigned from cabinet. Chong pledged $3.5 million to the 2008 North American Indigenous Games in early November 2006. Later in the same month, he announced the creation of Podium Canada to consolidate Canada's medal strategies for the
Summer and
Winter Olympics. Chong unexpectedly resigned from cabinet on November 27, 2006, to express his opposition to a motion before the House of Commons, put forward by Prime Minister Harper, which recognized "the Québécois as a
nation within a united Canada". Chong said that the motion was akin to
ethnic nationalism, which he opposes. During the press conference he held to announce his decision, he said "I believe in one nation, undivided, called Canada".
Return to the backbenches (2006-2015) 41st Parliament: Reform Act As a backbench MP, Chong proposed the
Reform Act (An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and the Parliament of Canada Act (candidacy and caucus reforms)) in order to increase the power of party caucuses. The Act ultimately passed the House of Commons and Senate, with amendments, and was given royal assent in 2015. Under the act, each caucus votes at the beginning of each parliament on whether or not it will adopt the Act's procedures giving the caucus the power to review and, if it wishes, remove the party leader, for the election and review of the caucus chair, the expulsion and re-admission of caucus members, and the election of the interim leader.
In Opposition, shadow minister (2015–present) 42nd Parliament: 2017 leadership election The Conservative Party was defeated in the
2015 federal election, and Harper immediately resigned as party leader. Despite not having served in Harper's cabinet for nine years, Chong's name was among those mentioned in the media as a potential candidate for party leader. When asked about a leadership bid in November 2015, Chong responded "let's wait and see." In early 2016, the Conservative Party announced that the
leadership election would be held on 27 May 2017. On 16 May 2016, Chong launched his campaign at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, becoming the third candidate to enter the race. Chong's leadership bid was endorsed by MP and former Environment Minister
Peter Kent, as well as MP
David Tilson. Chong also received the support of Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP)
Ted Arnott and former MPs
Chungsen Leung and
Mike Wallace. Chong is in favour of implementing what he describes as a revenue-neutral
carbon tax. Chong stated publicly that he supports
Motion 103, which calls on the government to condemn
Islamophobia in Canada and all other forms of religious and racial discrimination. Chong was one of two Conservative MPs, the other being
Simcoe North MP
Bruce Stanton, and the only leadership candidate to vote for the motion. Ultimately
Andrew Scheer was elected party leader on 27 May 2017. Chong subsequently served in
Scheer's shadow cabinet, being named Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Communities and Urban Affairs the following summer, later being appointed Shadow Cabinet Minister for Science in 2018.
43rd–45th Parliaments: Shadow Foreign Minister (2020-present) in 2018. After about a year as Shadow Science Minister, Andrew Scheer made Chong his
Shadow Cabinet Minister for Democratic Institutions in 2019, after the Conservatives were unable to reach a majority in the
2019 Federal election. On 24 August 2020, Erin O'Toole won the
leadership election to replace Scheer, who decided to resign after the 2019 election. On September 8, 2020, Chong was appointed the Shadow Minister for
Foreign Affairs by O'Toole. Chong also served as the vice chair of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE), whose Subcommittee on International Human Rights presented a report in March 2021 that concluded that
crimes against humanity and
genocide had taken place in Xinjiang. That month, Canada imposed sanctions on individuals and entities in connection with what
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called "gross and systemic human rights violations in the
Xinjiang region". In response, the government of the People's Republic of China deployed countermeasures, which included imposing sanctions on Chong and the FAAE's Subcommittee on International Human Rights.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and
Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau condemned the sanctions. After the 2022
Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chong was similarly
sanctioned by government of the Russian Federation after the Canadian government sanctioned many Russian officials close to
Vladimir Putin over the Ukrainian invasion. In a March 2022 op ed, Chong said Canada should seek to "isolate Russia internationally" and called for censorship of RT (Russia Today) from Canadian networks. In September 2022, newly elected Conservative leader
Pierre Poilievre retained Chong as
Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was reported in May 2023 that Chong's family in Hong Kong was targeted following the Uyghur genocide vote, including by a Chinese diplomat named Zhao Wei. Wei was later declared
persona non grata by Foreign Affairs Minister
Mélanie Joly. The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police subsequently opened an investigation into efforts to
Chinese government election interference efforts in Canada. In August 2023, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Chong and his family had been the target of an online
disinformation operation by the Chinese government. On 15 February 2024, Chong was interviewed by Foreign Interference Commision, established by the Government of Canada as part of a Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions. The interview concerned Chong's advocacy efforts regarding the
People’s Republic of China, sanctions, the targeting of Chong’s family, and the Government of Canada’s response. After the
2025 federal election, party leader
Pierre Poilievre lost his seat. He returned to Parliament in May after
winning a by-election, keeping Chong as his Shadow Foreign Minister in his second
Shadow Cabinet. Additionally, Chong was elected as Vice Chair of the
Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development in the
45th Parliament. On 9 February 2026, Chong issued a statement on behalf of the Conservative Party calling for the immediate release of Hong Kong newspaper publisher
Jimmy Lai, who was convicted and imprisoned in Hong Kong over the
2020 Hong Kong national security law. == Personal life ==