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Template:Infobox Lt Governor

Norman Lim "Normie" Kwong, CM, AOE (born Lim Kwong Yew;[1] October 24, 1929) is a former professional athlete, sports executive, and was the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta.

His parents immigrated from Taishan, Guangdong, China, and he is the first person of Chinese heritage to serve as lieutenant-governor of Alberta. As the former vice-regal representative in Alberta, he is styled "The Honourable" for life. Kwong is the second Chinese Canadian to be appointed as a vice regal in Canada.

Sports career[]

Norman Kwong
Personal information
Date of birth: (1929-10-24) October 24, 1929 (age 94)
Place of birth: Calgary, Alberta
Career information
No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
Roster status: Retired
Career highlights and awards
  • N/A
Canadian Football Hall of Fame

After playing football at Western Canada High School, he went on to play for the Calgary Stampeders from 1948 to 1950 and, after a trade, the Edmonton Eskimos from 1951 until his retirement in 1960. Nicknamed the "China Clipper", Kwong was the first Chinese Canadian to play on a professional Canadian football team. A powerful fullback, in 11 years of recorded statistics Kwong rushed for 9,022 yards for an average of 5.2 yards per carry and scored 93 touchdowns. He won the Grey Cup four times during his career (1948, 1954, 1955, and 1956). Kwong was a Western Conference all-star running back and three-time winner of the Eddie James Memorial Trophy, in 1951, 1955 and 1956. He was named the Schenley Most Outstanding Canadian in 1955 and 1956. He was named Canadian Athlete of the Year in 1955. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1969, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975, the Edmonton Eskimos' Wall of Honour in 1983 (where his jersey No. 95 was retired), and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. In November 2006, he was one of very few of his contemporaries to be voted one of the Canadian Football League's Top 50 players of the sport's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN. Kwong set the CFL record for the most yards rushing by Canadian in a season with 1,437 in the 1956 season. This record held for 56 years, being broken by Jon Cornish only in 2012,[2] though Kwong accomplished his record in fifteen games, rather than eighteen for Cornish.[3]

He was president and general manager of the Calgary Stampeders from 1988 to 1991, leading the team to a loss in the Grey Cup final in 1991. Between 1980 and 1994, Kwong was a part owner of the Calgary Flames, having been one of the original group of six Calgary businessmen who bought and moved the NHL's Atlanta Flames hockey team to Calgary in 1980.[4] The Calgary Flames won the Stanley Cup in 1989, making him one of few people whose name is on both the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup.

Public service career[]

Kwong's public stature from sports helped him move on to politics and government. In 1971 he ran for the Alberta Progressive Conservative party in Calgary-Millican. In this election, the PCs ended Social Credit's 36-year hold on power, winning all but five seats in Calgary. However, Kwong himself was defeated by longtime incumbent Arthur J. Dixon who won by a 1600 vote plurality.

In 1988 Kwong was made a member of the Order of Canada and has served as the national chairman of the Canadian Consultative Council on Multiculturalism. Kwong was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta on January 20, 2005, replacing Lois Hole, who died in office on January 6, 2005. Kwong welcomed Queen Elizabeth II to Alberta in June 2005 on a visit commemorating Alberta's first 100 years in Canadian Confederation. During a private audience the Queen presented Kwong with the insignia of a Knight of Justice in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem.

Kwong swore Ed Stelmach into office as the 13th Premier of Alberta on December 14, 2006. His term concluded on May 11, 2010, and he was succeeded by Don Ethell.

Arms[]

Template:Infobox COA wide

See also[]

  • Honourable David Lam - former Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia and Canada's first vice-regal of Chinese heritage
  • Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson - former Governor General of Canada and the first Chinese Canadian to serve the post
  • Larry Kwong, the original "China Clipper", former NHL hockey player and first Chinese-Canadian NHL player

References[]

  1. Chinese: 林佐民; Mandarin Pinyin: Lín Zuǒmín; Jyutping: Lam4 Cho3 Man4
  2. http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/10/31/normie-kwong-proud-of-cfl-rushing-record
  3. http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/football/lions/Lions+boss+Wally+Buono+says+record+books+should/7492003/story.html
  4. The other original investors are Harley Hotchkiss, Ralph T. Scurfield, Daryl Seaman, Byron Seaman and Norman Green.
Order of precedence
Preceded by
Catherine Fraser, The Chief Justice of The Court of Appeal of Alberta
Order of precedence in Alberta
as of 2013
Succeeded by
Don Getty, Former Premier of Alberta

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