Richard Lee (Canadian politician)

Richard T. Lee (simplified Chinese: 李灿明; traditional Chinese: 李燦明; born 1954) is a Canadian politician. A city councillor in Burnaby, British Columbia (BC) since 2022, he previously represented the electoral district of Burnaby North in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2017, as part of the BC Liberal caucus.

Richard T. Lee
李燦明
Burnaby City Councillor
Assumed office
2022
Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
In office
September 28, 2015 – June 22, 2017
Preceded byDouglas Horne
Succeeded byGreg Kyllo
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Burnaby North
In office
May 16, 2001 – May 9, 2017
Preceded byPietro Calendino
Succeeded byJanet Routledge
Personal details
Born1954 (1954) (age 69)
Zhongshan, People's Republic of China
Political partyOne Burnaby
Other political
affiliations		BC Liberal
Federal Liberal
Residence(s)Burnaby, British Columbia
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia (B.Sc., M.Sc.)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese李燦明
Simplified Chinese李灿明

Background

Born in Zhongshan, People's Republic of China in 1954,[1][2] Lee lived in Hong Kong and Macau before moving to Canada in 1971 to join his grandfather,[3] who entered the country in 1913 by paying the Chinese head tax.[4] He studied physics and mathematics at the University of British Columbia, earning a bachelor of science degree in 1976 and a master of science degree in 1980;[1][3] he also worked at the university as a programmer analyst at Triumf.[5] He has lived in Burnaby since 1986 with his late wife Anne, with whom he raised three children.[1][3][5]

Political career

A member of the BC Liberal Party since 1993,[4] Lee first contested the riding of Burnaby North in the 1996 election, but lost to Pietro Calendino of the BC New Democratic Party (NDP).[6] He faced Calendino again in the 2001 election, this time winning the seat with 54.37% of the vote.[7] He was re-elected in the 2005, 2009 and 2013 elections before losing to the NDP's Janet Routledge in 2017.[8]

During his time as member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), he served as Parliamentary Secretary for the Asia-Pacific Initiative from June 2005 to May 2009, as well as deputy chair of the Special Committee to Appoint a Merit Commissioner and chair of the Government Caucus Asian Economic Development Committee.[5][9] He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Asia Pacific Strategy to the Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for the Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism in June 2013,[5] and Parliamentary Secretary for traditional Chinese medicine in December of the same year.[10]

In April 2015, a constituent in Burnaby North launched a recall petition under the BC Elections Act.[11] The proponent turned in less than 10% of the required number of signatures and the petition failed.[12][13]

In September 2015, Lee was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly,[3] the first MLA of Asian descent in B.C. to serve in that capacity.

Following the resignation of Karen Wang, Lee took over as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in the 2019 Burnaby South federal by-election, against New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Party of Canada's Jay Shin.[2][14] Lee finished in second place behind Singh, with 26% of the vote.[15] He declined to seek the Liberal's nomination for Burnaby South in the October 2019 federal election on account of his wife's illness.[16]

Lee joined municipal party One Burnaby in 2022, and was elected to the Burnaby City Council in that year's municipal election.[17]

2015 detention in China

In November 2015, Lee and his family were detained by the Chinese Public Security Bureau upon arrival to Shanghai, China. During his detention, Chinese officials examined his personal phone, and BC Legislative Assembly phone. Lee and his family were released without charge and was forcibly removed from China.

Lee later recounted his experience to various members of Canada's Federal Cabinet and then-Chinese ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye, but received no acknowledgement of the incident from both the Government of Canada, nor the Government of China. Lee elected not to publicly disclose the incident until November 2019, citing concerns of creating a rift in Canada–China bilateral relations.

The Prime Minister's Office acknowledged receipt of Lee's correspondence 4 years later, in November 2019.[18]

Partial electoral results
Canadian federal by-election, February 25, 2019: Burnaby South
Resignation of Kennedy Stewart
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticJagmeet Singh8,84838.90Increase3.83
LiberalRichard T. Lee5,91926.02Decrease7.86
ConservativeJay Shin5,14722.63Decrease4.48
People'sLaura-Lynn Thompson2,42210.65New
IndependentTerry Grimwood2421.06New
IndependentValentine Wu1680.74New
Total valid votes/Expense limit 22,74699.17–
Total rejected ballots 1900.83+0.23
Turnout 22,93630.10-30.68
Eligible voters 76,204
New Democratic hold Swing +5.84
Source: Elections Canada[19]
2017 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticJanet Routledge11,44848.57+1.75$53,926.39
LiberalRichard Lee9,29039.42−4.43$62,342.21
GreenPeter Hallschmid2,83112.01+5.01$1,106.54
Total valid votes 23,569100.00–
Total rejected ballots 1710.72−0.03
Turnout 23,74060.39+5.36
Registered voters 39,312
Source: Elections BC[20][21]
2013 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalRichard Lee10,54346.82
New DemocraticJanet Routledge9,87543.85
GreenCarrie McLaren1,5777.00
No AffiliationWayne Michael Marklund5232.32
Total valid votes 22,518100.00
Total rejected ballots 1700.75
Turnout 22,68855.03
Source: Elections BC[22]
2005 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalRichard T. Lee10,42145.59
New DemocraticPietro Calendino10,35645.31
GreenRichard Brand1,7637.71
Democratic ReformMatthew Laird3161.38
Total valid votes 22,856 100.00
Total rejected ballots 155 0.68
Turnout 23,011 59.76

References
  1. "Lee, Richard T., B.Sc., M.Sc. (Burnaby North)". Canadian Parliamentary Guide. 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  2. Tanner, Adrienne (January 30, 2019). "The Liberal candidate in Burnaby South, take two". Maclean's. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  3. "Councillor Richard T. Lee". City of Burnaby. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  4. 李燦明:作風務實關注民生 [Richard Lee: pragmatic and attentive to people's livelihood] (in Traditional Chinese). ccue.ca. December 30, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  5. "40th Parliament Members at dissolution on April 11, 2017: Richard T. Lee". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  6. "1996 Voting Results by Voting Area". Elections BC. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  7. "Burnaby North Electoral District Voting Results" (PDF). Elections BC. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 30, 2003. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  8. Pawson, Chad (May 10, 2017). "NDP makes gains in Tri-Cities, Burnaby with upsets". CBC News. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  9. 呂惠萍 (May 15, 2013). 李燦明 四度成功攻頂 [Richard Lee successfully elected for the fourth time] (in Traditional Chinese). World Journal. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014.
  10. Moreau, Jennifer (December 20, 2013). "Burnaby MLA Richard Lee appointed parliamentary secretary for Chinese medicine". Burnaby Now. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  11. "Burnaby resident files petition to recall 'failed' MLA - CTV News". bc.ctvnews.ca. April 14, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  12. "Elections BC » Burnaby North Recall Petition Unsuccessful". June 16, 2015. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  13. "Summary of Recall Petitions | Elections BC" (PDF).
  14. Zussman, Richard; Boynton, Sean (January 19, 2019). "Federal Liberals tap former B.C. MLA Richard Lee as new candidate in Burnaby South". Global News. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  15. Zimonjic, Peter (February 26, 2019). "NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh claims victory in Burnaby South byelection". CBC News. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  16. Gawley, Kelvin (May 16, 2019). "Liberal Richard Lee drops out of Burnaby South election, as wife faces illness". Burnaby Now. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  17. Vanderdeen, Lauren (December 30, 2022). "Top Burnaby news stories of 2022 No. 2: Municipal election". Burnaby Now. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  18. Cooper, Sam (November 29, 2019). "B.C. politician breaks silence: China detained me, is interfering 'in our democracy'". Global News. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  19. "February 25, 2019 By-elections Election Results". Elections Canada. February 27, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  20. "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
  21. "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  22. "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
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