John Yap

As a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the 38th Parliament, Yap was a member of the Treasury Board and served on several committees: the Legislative Review Cabinet Committee, and the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture and the Select Standing Committees of Public Accounts, Crown Corporations, and Finance and Government Services.

John Yap (born 1959) is a Canadian politician and former banker.

He attended the University of British Columbia, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1980 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 1983.

He went on to lead a twenty-year career in banking with Toronto-Dominion Bank and financial planning with the Investors Group.

The family immigrated to Canada, settling in Richmond, British Columbia in 1986.

In the Richmond-Steveston riding, Yap had worked on Geoff Plant's 1996 election campaign and volunteered as Plant's campaign chairman in the 2001 election.

Yap is a member and past president (1999–2000) of the Richmond Sunset Rotary Club and an honorary member of the Vancouver Diamond Lions Club.

He was heavily involved with the Gilmore Park United Church and the Gilmore Gardens Seniors Centre.

Yap is married with two grown children, a son and a daughter.

For the past two decades, he and his family have resided in Richmond.

He represented the electoral district of Richmond-Steveston in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2005 to 2020, as part of the BC Liberal caucus.

During his time in government, he served as Minister of State for Climate Action, Minister Responsible for Multiculturalism, and Minister of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology in the cabinets of premiers Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark.

Of Hokkien descent, John Yap was born in Singapore to a homemaker mother and a medical doctor father.

He speaks some Mandarin and Cantonese.

After Plant announced his retirement, Yap sought the BC Liberal nomination in Richmond-Steveston for the upcoming 2005 election.

Plant vocally supported Yap's candidacy and Yap was acclaimed uncontested.

In the 38th Provincial General Election, held on May 17, 2005, Yap was elected to the 38th Parliament of British Columbia.

He defeated three other candidates in the Richmond-Steveston riding: Employment-agency owner and New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) candidate Kay Hale, Green Party candidate Egidio Spinelli and Democratic Reform BC candidate Daniel Ferguson.

In September 2006 Yap was elected by his peers to be the Chair of the BC Government Caucus.

On July 1, 2008, Yap implemented the British Columbia revenue carbon tax to fuels such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, heating fuel, propane and coal, and to peat and tires when used to produce energy or heat.

Carbon tax revenue is returned to taxpayers through tax reductions and is not used to fund government programs.

The refundable Low Income Climate Action Tax Credit ensures that low-income individuals and families are compensated for the tax.

This legislation was supplemented by a $100 Climate Action Dividend that was distributed to all British Columbians in 2008.

Yap began a non-partisan program called the Youth Outreach Initiative Program (YOI) in 2008 to encourage youth involvement in the political process.

The purpose of the YOI is to bridge the gap between the youth and the government.

At Robert Cecil Palmer Secondary's Richmond School District's Student Leadership Conference (RSLC), Yap and his youth presenter educate and discuss issues such as lowering voting age to 16, mandatory voting laws, electronic voting options and increase classroom education.

In the 39th Provincial General Election, held on May 12, 2009, Yap was re-elected, defeating three other candidates: NDP candidate and retired medical transcriptionist Sue Wallis, Green Party candidate Jeff Hill and former BC Conservative Party leader Barry Chilton.

On June 10, 2009, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell promoted Yap to the Executive Council of British Columbia as the Minister of State for Climate Action.

Yap supported the first Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement in 2009 (PSECA) as a partnership between BC Hydro and the Government of British Columbia.

This agreement achieved annual energy cost savings of close to $7.4 million, GHG reductions of over 18,700 tonnes and conservation of 38.6 GWh of electricity.

Regarding climate action initiatives, Yap worked to ensure the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics were carbon neutral, and with various ministries he helped supervise the public sector's transition to carbon neutrality, increases in provincial fuel taxes (based on the fuel's carbon content), the creation of a Crown corporation to administer B.C.-specific carbon off-sets (the Pacific Carbon Trust), a memorandum of understanding with the California Air Resources Board regarding auto emission standards, expanded recycling initiatives, and a cap and trade system through the Western Climate Initiative.

Yap also signed agreements with Washington Department of Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant on limiting carbon emissions from government operations and promoting awareness of the impacts of sea level rise on coastal areas.

Yap was retained as Minister of State for Climate Action during Gordon Campbell's final cabinet shuffle in October 2010.

On February 7, 2011, Yap and Terasen Gas provided $6.9 million for 35 energy projects in ten school districts to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and costs through British Columbia's Energy Conservation Agreement Fund.

In addition, Yap supported the $15-million, three-year LiveSmart BC for small businesses across B.C. to access free energy-efficiency advice, equipment and incentives.

"This program will allow thousands of B.C. small businesses to save money and reduce their energy consumption," Yap said.

"We know small businesses are the backbone of the economy and together we can work towards our climate action goals."

In December 2014, he received heart bypass surgery at Vancouver General Hospital.

Yap has visited his ancestral village in Yongchun, Fujian.

Yap was responsible for implementing British Columbia's Climate Action Plan and overseeing B.C.'s legislated carbon emissions reduction target of 33% by 2020.