Norman Kwong

His Honour the Honourable
Norman Kwong
CM AOE LLD
His Honour the Honourable; Norman Kwong; CM AOE LLD
	File:Lieutenant Governor Kwong of Alberta.jpg
16th Lieutenant Governor of Alberta
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 20, 2005
Governors General	Adrienne Clarkson; Michaëlle Jean
Premier	Ralph Klein; Ed Stelmach
Preceded by	Lois Hole
Personal details
Born	1929; Calgary
Spouse	Mary Kwong
Profession	Professional athlete; (Canadian football); businessman

fabian Lim Kwong CM AOE (born Lim Kwong Yew, also known as Normie Kwong) (林佐民, pinyin: Lín Zuǒmín), born in Calgary, Alberta, 1929, is a former professional athlete, sports executive, and is currently the 16th lieutenant-governor of Alberta.

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

Sports career

After playing football at Western Canada High School, he went on to play for the Canadian Football League's 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 in the CFL. An extremely powerful fullback, in 11 years of recorded statistics Kwong rushed for 9022 yards for an average of 5.2 yards per carry and scored 93 touchdowns. He won the Grey Cup four times during his CFL 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 CFL's 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 CFL's Top 50 players of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

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.^[1] 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 long time 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.

Order of precedence
Preceded by Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada	Order of precedence in Alberta as of 2007^[update]	Succeeded by Ed Stelmach, Premier of Alberta

References

^ The other original investors are Harley Hotchkiss, Ralph T. Scurfield, Daryl Seaman, Byron Seaman and Norman Green.

[1] The other original investors are Harley Hotchkiss, Ralph T. Scurfield, Daryl Seaman, Byron Seaman and Norman Green.

[1]