Who is Edward Gong, was his company a pyramid scheme, and why is he on so many campaign signs in Toronto?

The 2023 mayoral election has been a Gong show – literally, in the case of one candidate.

Lately, it’s been close to impossible to go anywhere in Toronto without running into a campaign sign for Edward Gong, a fringe candidate, media mogul and businessman with a troubled past. His signs claim he will “rescue Toronto,” and are emblazoned with “#44” – his number on the mayoral ballot, which features an eye-watering 102 candidates.

And it’s not just lawn signs encouraging Torontonians to vote for Gong – a massive ad first appeared on a screen at Yonge-Dundas Square last week.

It’s a surprising amount of publicity for a candidate with a publicly checkered past. In 2021, Gong, who also goes by the name Gong Xiao Hua, pleaded guilty to offences relating to the operation of a pyramid scheme involving pharmaceutical supplements. The scheme allegedly defrauded approximately 40,000 people, most of whom were based in China, of “hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the Ontario Securities Commission.

That incident kicked off a legal battle for Gong, who was not personally convicted of any offence – only his company, Edward Enterprise International Group Inc., was held liable for a $1 million fine and $15 million payable to the Canada Revenue Agency. Gong has publicly maintained his innocence (despite his admission of guilt on his company’s behalf to the OSC in 2021),and earlier this year, he sued the OSC for $7 million, claiming the agency had violated his Charter rights by cooperating with China despite the Chinese government’s history of human rights abuses.

In a statement to CP24, a representative for the OSC said they could not comment on Gong’s suit as it is currently before the courts.

“Although Mr. Gong has no interest in re-visiting this difficult chapter of his recent life, in so far as this matter was public and in so far as this matter destroyed the businesses that he founded, he understands that the citizenry will be curious about what happened, and he feels that it is his public duty to be transparent and open about what has occurred,” said Polly Miller, Gong’s campaign manager, in an email.

Regarding the OSC’s ruling against Gong’s “pyramid scheme,” Miller said Gong’s business was one of his “legitimate multi-level marketing operations – the same business model as AMWAY.”

Miller added that Gong is a “self-made man” who came to Toronto “with only dreams, to eventually reach unprecedented global success.”

According to his campaign website, Gong founded the Canadian National Television and Canadian National Chinese Television in 2012. The Chinese-language stations are headquartered in Markham and aimed at Chinese-speaking individuals living in Canada. Gong’s website also lists some of his business endeavours, including the acquisition of “several well-known U.S. enterprises” and an invitation to meet Warren Buffett in 2016.

If elected mayor, Gong has promised to slash property taxes by $1,000 per household. He would also hire an additional 1,000 police officers, implement TTC fare reduction for children and senior, and accelerate the construction of affordable housing for low-income families.