in committee. In 2008, Cao sponsored the Alberta Volunteer Service Medal Act, which would have established a medal for exceptional volunteers. It received bipartisan support from Progressive Conservatives Jonathan Denis, Carl Benito, Neil Brown, and Greg Weadick and Liberals Hugh MacDonald and Darshan Kang, but was ultimately hoisted on a motion from Progressive Conservative Fred Horne. The bill's opponents included Liberal Harry B. Chase (who felt that the government's role in volunteer recognition should come in the form of support, rather than in the form of after-the-fact recognition) and Progressive Conservatives Richard Marz (who argued that medals should be restricted to those who had risked their lives), Heather Forsyth (who was concerned by the level of bureaucracy in the bill), George Rogers (who suggested that it duplicated existing government programs), Ray Prins (who was concerned that by singling out individual volunteers it would demean the contributions of those who weren't recognized), and Doug Griffiths (who echoed Rogers' arguments and also expressed concern that the proposed award would have a built in bias in favour of volunteers with large organizations). His other private member's bills have included 1997's Highway Traffic Amendment Act, 2002's Environmental Protection and Enhancement (Residential Land Disclosure) Amendment Act, 2003's Financial Summit Act, and 2004's Government Accountability (Identification of Expenditures) Amendment Act, none of which reached second reading. In addition to his private member's bills, Cao has sponsored a government bill, the Tobacco Tax Amendment Act of 2003. The bill was in response to an increase in the number of Albertans buying tobacco products out of province, after the government imposed taxes on the import of tobacco products to Alberta that saw taxes on such goods more than double. It passed after little debate. Cao also sponsored a successful private bill in 1998, the Tanya Marie Bryant Adoption Termination Act. Personal life Cao is married to Kim Hoang. The pair have three sons: William (a lawyer), Winston (an engineer), and Willis (a scientist). They also have three grandchildren. He identifies Confucius and Winston Churchill as his political heroes. Election results See also List of University of Waterloo people External links Wayne Cao's web page References Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Living people Vietnamese emigrants to Canada 1946 births University of Waterloo alumni University of Auckland alumni Vietnamese refugees Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Canadian politicians of Vietnamese descent People in information technology Politicians from Calgary 21st-century