Members’ Statement
February 8, 2024

Mr. Len Webber (Calgary Confederation, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the late Norman Kwong of Calgary will again make history next week when he is celebrated with his own Heritage Minute.  A 60-second snapshot of his life will be thrust onto TV screens from coast to coast, injecting culturally historic education into an entertainment segment.

Normie was the hard-working son of Chinese immigrants who settled in Calgary and ran a grocery store in the early 1900s.

He joined the Calgary Stampeders Football Club in 1948 – just a year after the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed and he became the first player in the CFL of Chinese descent.

He won four Grey Cups in his 12-year career.

He was inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame.

He was named to the Order of Canada and recognized with the Alberta Order of Excellence.

He helped bring the Flames to Calgary and is one of five people with their name on both the Grey Cup and Stanley Cup.

In 2005, he broke another barrier and became the first Alberta Lieutenant-Governor of Chinese descent.

That’s a lot to fit into a minute Mr. Speaker.

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