Richard Lee (Canadian politician)

Richard T. Lee (simplified Chinese: 李灿明; traditional Chinese: 李燦明; c. 1954) is a Canadian politician. He was born in People's Republic of China in 1954. He was a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Lee served four consecutive terms for 16 years as MLA. He also served as the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Richard T. Lee
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 67)
Zhongshan, People Republic of China
Political partyBC Liberal
ResidenceBurnaby, British Columbia

Lee was the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate with New Democratic Party's Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Party of Canada's Jay Shin for a by-election in Burnaby South that was held on February 25, 2019.[1]

Biography

Lee represented the riding of North Burnaby since the 2001 election. He was re-elected in the 2005 election, 2009 election and 2013 election before being defeated in 2017. He served as Parliamentary Secretary for the Asia-Pacific Initiative from June 2005 to May 2009. Lee previously served as deputy chair of the Special Committee to Appoint a Merit Commissioner and chair of the Government Caucus Asian Economic Development Committee.[2][3]

In June 2013, Lee 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.[2]

In December 2013, Lee was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for traditional Chinese medicine.[4]

In April 2015, a constituent in Burnaby North launched a Recall petition under the BC Elections Act.[5] The proponent turned in less than 10% of the required number of signatures and the petition failed.[6][7]

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

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.[8]

Partial electoral results
Canadian federal by-election, February 25, 2019: Burnaby South
Resignation of Kennedy Stewart
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticJagmeet Singh8,84838.903.83
LiberalRichard T. Lee5,91926.027.86
ConservativeJay Shin5,14722.634.48
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[9]
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[10][11]
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[12]
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. 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.
  2. https://www.leg.bc.ca/mla/40thParl/lee-Richard.htm
  3. 李灿明 四度成功攻顶 Archived 2014-08-14 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Moreau, Jennifer. "Burnaby MLA Richard Lee appointed parliamentary secretary for Chinese medicine". Burnaby Now. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  5. "Burnaby resident files petition to recall 'failed' MLA - CTV News". bc.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  6. "Elections BC » Burnaby North Recall Petition Unsuccessful". Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  7. "Summary of Recall Petitions | Elections BC" (PDF).
  8. Cooper, Sam (November 29, 2019). "B.C. politician breaks silence: China detained me, is interfering 'in our democracy'". Global News. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  9. "February 25, 2019 By-elections Election Results". Elections Canada. February 27, 2019. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  10. "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  11. "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  12. "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.


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