Thomas Dang
Thomas Kyle Dang is a Canadian politician who was elected in the 2015 Alberta general election to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the electoral district of Edmonton-South West. Dang is the youngest MLA to ever be elected in Alberta.
Dang was a member of the first Alberta NDP Government Caucus in the history of the province. During his first term, Dang advocated heavily for the new South-West high school and hospital, both of which were announced during his tenure. He also put forward motions related to education and most notably, changes to daylight saving time in Alberta.
In April 2019, Thomas Dang was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the new electoral district of Edmonton-South, defeating the United Conservative Party candidate Tunde Obasan by a narrow margin. Dang continues his political career constituting part of the Official Opposition in the Alberta Legislature.
Political career
Dang entered politics as a candidate for the New Democratic Party of Alberta. He served as a member of the Standing Committee on the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, the Special Standing Committee on Members' Services and the Standing Committee on Resource Stewardship. He also previously served as a member of the Standing Committee on Private Bills.Dang is seen as a rising star among his caucus; education minister David Eggen called Dang a strong pick as a future education minister due to his leadership and as a role model for young people.
Early career
Dang was a computer science student at the University of Alberta. He also wrote a blog on provincial politics. He defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA Matt Jeneroux on the May 5, 2015 election that saw the Alberta NDP sweep the city of Edmonton and win a majority government, the first switch of governing parties in the province since the 1971 election. As of 2014–15, he is a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity at the University of Alberta, of which former Premier Peter Lougheed was also a member.Community Advocacy
South-West High School
In November 2017, Premier Rachel Notley and Education Minister David Eggen announced with Dang a new high school for the southwest region of Edmonton. The province announced the new high school will have space for 1800 students and was in response to the dramatic growth in that part of the city. It will be the first high school the city as seen in over 12 years.Dang had been advocating for the school for several years and engaged with families, parent councils, and stakeholders over their clear need for a new high school.
South-West Hospital
In May 2017, the Alberta Government announced a new hospital in southwest Edmonton. The location was chosen in part due to its proximity to both Anthony Henday Drive and the Queen Elizabeth Highway 2. The location is also near a proposed future LRT expansion. This decision was in part due to advocacy by Dang and he was on hand for the announcement.P3 School Issues
Dang has been an advocate for parents and students experiencing issues with the Public–private partnership schools built in the Edmonton area. The schools have experienced issues with drainage issues leading to mud pits and large fences installed by the contractor. Dang has asked questions in Question Period of both the Education Minister and Infrastructure Minister and received commitments from the Government to work on resolving the issue.Racism and Refugees
Throughout his political career, Dang has been a vocal advocate on refugee and anti-racism issues. His parents were Chinese-Vietnamese refugees from Vietnam. He has spoken out against racism in politics in the Legislature and supported Vietnamese people who came to Alberta as refugees. Dang has criticized Jason Kenney for comparing his own emigration from Saskatchewan to refugee Canadians.Youth and Bullying
Dang put forward Motion 503 in his first session as an MLA, urging the Government to consult with school boards and youth to encourage student participation on boards. This was aimed to increasing dialogue and student engagement on democratic governance. The motion was passed unanimously with bi-partisan support in the assembly. The motion read as follows:Be it resolved that the Legislative Assembly urge the Government to consult with school boards and youth to encourage senior high school student participation on boards with a view to increasing dialogue, increasing student engagement in board policy and planning, and educating students about democratic governance.
Notice of Motion 507 was given on Day 2 of the second session on the order paper. This motion was aimed at ensuring that students and parents were ready to deal with all facets of bullying in an ever-evolving technological world. The notice of motion reads as follows:
Be it resolved that the Legislative Assembly urge the Government to take steps to increase awareness in Alberta's schools of the effects of cyberbullying.Motion 507 was passed unanimously with bi-partisan support in the assembly.
Tourism Week
In spring 2016, Dang tabled Bill 204, The Alberta Tourism Week Act. This bill would create a tourism week in legislation that would occur in the first week of June starting 2017. The Bill has currently passed first and second reading in the Legislature.Daylight Saving Time
In late 2016, Dang announced that he planned to table a bill to abolish Daylight Saving Time in Alberta. Dang said he had been working on this file since it had been brought up at an NDP policy convention. He has stated that he intends to lead a public consultation on the issue in advance of his bill in 2017.On February 13, 2017, Dang announced an online consultation process that would take place until the end of February. He received widespread support from young families and members of the agricultural industry. Egg farmers have cheered the proposal, because the time change “plays havoc with the natural rhythm of poultry.” Dang also announced that he hoped to have a bill ready to be tabled in mid-March.
Dang tabled Bill 203, the Alberta Standard Time Act on March 14, 2017. The bill would set the Alberta Standard Time to UTC−6. This was done after his online consultation showed that 82% of respondents prefer not changing their clocks twice a year, and 59% of respondents prefer to have daylight in the late afternoon.
In October 2017, the Alberta Legislature voted against Dang's bill to abolish the time change. This was due in part to pressure from industry groups such as the Oilers Entertainment Group and WestJet. The industries were concerned about the consequences of moving off time change while other jurisdictions continued to. Dang said that despite the vote he would like to continue the conversation and would support moving forward if other jurisdictions such as British Columbia and other parts of North America abolished time change as well.
Education
Dang was pursuing a degree in Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He is also an Offensive Security Certified Professional with a passion for issues relating to Information security.Personal life
Dang was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the second child of refugee parents from Vietnam.Dang played competitive table tennis as a junior for many years, competing across Canada and in the United States of America. He was a member of the Edmonton Table Tennis Club.
He also enjoys playing Ingress, an alternate reality game that involves physically going to different locations as part of the gameplay, with Dang stating that his earlier game-related travels to different parts of Alberta have been helpful since becoming an MLA in the province.