May Chiu is the first Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

-born Québécoise to have run as a candidate for the Bloc Québécois

Bloc Québécois

The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...

 party in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

In the 2006 federal election

Canadian federal election, 2006

The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...

 she ran against the then-Prime Minister of Canada

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

, Paul Martin

Paul Martin

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

 in his riding of LaSalle—Émard

LaSalle—Émard

LaSalle—Émard is a federal electoral district in the Canadian province of Quebec that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988. Its population in 2001 was 99,767. It is represented by New Democrat Hélène LeBlanc...

. Chiu placed second behind Martin with 28.64% of the vote. She received some media attention for running in the final trimester of her pregnancy, giving birth a few days before the election.

A former executive director of Chinese Family Service of Greater Montreal, she is a well known attorney and community activist who has been helping in causes like low-cost housing and the Chinese immigrant headtax redress.

She ran for the progressive party Québec Solidaire

Québec Solidaire

Québec solidaire is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada, that was created on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party Union des forces progressistes and the alter-globalization political movement Option Citoyenne, led...

 in the riding of Outremont

Outremont (provincial electoral district)

Outremont is a provincial electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in central Montreal, the riding was created in 1965. Previously, it was part of the riding of Montreal-Outremont that existed from 1939 to 1965...

, during the 2008 provincial election. The riding includes the neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges, a favourite for recent immigrants, which is Chiu's target electoral population. Chiu placed third with 11% of the vote.

External links

• Campaign blog
• Quebec Solidaire - Outremont - 2008 official campaign website (in French)
• News in Chinese @ tom.com
• Interview on Comme les Chinois with May Chiu (in French)