Don Davies gives his victory speech, while his campaign team, wife and daughter stand behind him. - photo Todd Wong
Over the past two years, I have seen Don Davies mature from a shy potential candidate when I first met him at one of Meena Wong's dim sum lunches. Don has become a more assertive - yet still humble and hardworking victorious winner. Genuinely concerned about others, he is a thoughtful quiet man with the heart of a lion.
"There was nobody in that room more surprised than me," Don shared with me after his victory party, when I drove him back to his car at the house where he had been watching the early election returns.
"When I first took on the nomination, people told told me it wasn't winnable - but I believed with hard work, it could happen."
And hard work is the essence of this humble working man's politician. Over the past two years, Don built his community presence and his campaign team. He put the right people in the right places, such as his campaign manager Joe Barrett (son of former BC Premier Dave Barrett), and he worked very hard to be informed on the issues and to learn the issues in the different communities. Don is a lawyer who works on human rights and protecting workers' rights as Director of Legal Resources for Teamsters Canada (Local 31)
There really was a strong Chinese-Scottish element to Don Davies' campaign. Don's wife Sheryl Palm is of Scottish ancestry and she loved wearing her tartan and attending this year's Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.
One of Don's key campaign advisors was Meena Wong, a Beijing-born Chinese-Canadian who speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and even a little French. While living in Toronto, Meena had also been an assistant to Toronto city councilor Olivia Chow, now re-elected MP for Trinity-Spadina, and of course the wife of NDP leader Jack Layton.
In his victory speech, Don gave especially big thanks to Meena Wong, whom he called "incredible." Meena really helped get Don's message out to the Chinese language community, attending Chinese-Canadian community events and even got Don working to help new immigrants with their family citizenship and immigration applications. Even while making a bid to secure a COPE nomination for Vancouver City council, Meena was always taking Don to events in the Chinese-Canadian community.
Meena told me that after phoning up new immigrants and offering them rides to vote, "They thanked me so much to be encouraged and valued and to participate in this very democratic process."
Lots of people showed up tonight to congratulate Don Davies at his Victory Party held at Heritage Hall on Main St.:
Former BC Premier Glen Clark, Don Davies and Meena Wong - photo Todd Wong
CUPE sandwich! Todd Wong (CUPE 391 executive member-at-large) with Dr. Kerry Jang (Vision Vancouver councilor candidate), and Paul Faoro (CUPE 15 President). - photo Todd Wong
Chris Bouris (videographer of all those cool Don Davies youtube videos), Patrick Tam (Flunging Pictures), MLA (Vancouver East) Shane Simpson, Dale Jackman (NDP MP candidate Richmond)- photo Todd Wong
Anital Romaniuk (COPE Parksboard candidate), Am Johal, Sheryl Palm, Michael Byers (NDP MP candidate Vancouver Centre), Ellen Woordsworth (COPE city council candidate) - photo Todd Wong
Imtiaz Popat (Co-op Radio's "The Rational"), Todd Wong & Mabel Ellmore - photo Todd Wong
See my flickr set here:
Don Davies Victory Party
See pictures by Patrick Tam / Flunging Pictures
