Art Lee

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Arthur John Lee (Template:Lang-zh; born September 30, 1947) is a Canadian politician and lawyer based in British Columbia. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada member of Parliament (MP) representing Vancouver East from 1974 to 1979, and as the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1984 to 1987, becoming the first Chinese Canadian to lead a provincial or federal political party.

Background

Art Lee was born in Lethbridge, Alberta.<ref name="parlinfo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CT841106">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His father Wilson Lee (b. 19 February 1919), ran a business in Edmonton after serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force,<ref name="CT841106"/> and his great-grandfather worked as a translator during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.<ref name="CT740627">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His paternal aunt Jean Lee was the only woman of Chinese-Canadian descent to serve in the Royal Canadian Air Force's (RCAF) Women’s Division during World War II.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After graduating from the University of Alberta Faculty of Law in 1972,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> he was called to the bar in British Columbia in 1973, and joined the law firm of Frank Lew in Vancouver.<ref name="CT740627"/><ref name="CT861021">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As a fourth-generation Chinese Canadian, Art Lee was not fluent in the Chinese language.<ref name="CT861021"/> After becoming MP, he took Cantonese lessons to facilitate communications with Chinese residents in his constituency.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Political career

Federal politics

Lee ran as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada in the 1974 federal election, winning the riding of Vancouver East against incumbent New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Paddy Neale by just 57 votes.<ref name="parlinfo"/><ref name="CED">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs from 1975 to 1976, and as parliamentary secretary to the Solicitor General of Canada from 1976 to 1977.<ref name="parlinfo"/> In the subsequent 1979 election, he lost the seat to NDP candidate Margaret Mitchell, and again in 1980.<ref name="parlinfo"/><ref name="CED"/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Provincial politics

After Shirley McLoughlin resigned as leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party in 1983, Lee won the leadership election in 1984 against three opponents.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At that time, the party had little popular support due to its association with the federal Liberals, and it held no seats in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. Lee attempted to enter the legislature by running in the Vancouver East by-election on November 8, 1984,<ref name="CT841106"/> but lost to British Columbia New Democratic Party candidate Bob Williams.<ref name="EBC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 1986 provincial election, Lee ran for one of two seats in Vancouver-Little Mountain alongside fellow Liberal candidate Joyce Statton;<ref name="CT861021"/> the seats were won by incumbent Social Credit candidates Grace McCarthy and Doug Mowat.<ref name="CED2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CT861023">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Liberals were once again shut out of the legislature,<ref name="CT861023"/> but the party won 6.74% of the popular vote, more than double what they had received in the 1983 election.<ref name="CED2"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Thereafter Lee announced his resignation as party leader, staying on until Gordon Wilson was acclaimed as the new Liberal leader in October 1987.<ref name="CT871027">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>