Michael Lee (Canadian politician)
Michael Lee | |
|---|---|
李耀華 | |
 | |
| Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Vancouver-Langara | |
| In office May 9, 2017 – September 21, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Moira Stilwell |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)[1] Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Political party | BC United |
| Spouse | Christina Yan-Lee |
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Michael Lee | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 李耀華 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 李耀华 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Michael Lee (Chinese: 李耀華; born 1964 or 1965) is a Canadian politician who represented the electoral district of Vancouver-Langara in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2017 until 2024. A member of the BC United caucus, he serves as its Critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.[2] He ran for the party's leadership in 2018 and 2022.
Background
[edit]Born in Vancouver, Lee is the son of immigrants from Hong Kong.[1][3] His mother and father worked as a nurse and a pharmacist respectively.[4] He attended the University of British Columbia, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in biology in 1986, Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in political science in 1989, and Master of Arts in political science with a focus on environmental regulations in 1992.[5] He subsequently attained a law degree from the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, then practised business law in the resource sector, eventually becoming partner at Lawson Lundell LLP.[1][3]
Lee is married with three young adult children.[3]
Political career
[edit]Lee worked as an assistant to former prime minister Kim Campbell during her time as Minister of Justice and Minister of National Defence,[3][6] and was a youth organizer for the Progressive Conservatives.[7] He also assisted in Tung Chan's successful campaign for Vancouver City Council in the 1990 municipal election.[7]
He joined the British Columbia Liberal Party in 2002,[4][8] serving as its membership chair at one point.[7] He then ran for the Liberals in the 2017 provincial election, in which he was elected member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Langara for the first time.[9] He was re-elected MLA in the 2020 provincial election.[10] During his time in the legislature, Lee has served as the Official Opposition Critic for Transportation, Infrastructure and TransLink; Official Opposition Critic for Justice; and Official Opposition Co-Critic for Indigenous Relations.[3]
In September 2017, Lee announced he would run for the leadership of the BC Liberals.[4][11][12] Despite winning the most votes over the first four rounds, he finished in third place behind winner Andrew Wilkinson and runner-up Dianne Watts.[13]
On June 9, 2021, Lee announced he was running again for the leadership of the BC Liberals.[14][15] This time he finished third behind winner Kevin Falcon and runner-up Ellis Ross on the fifth ballot.[16]
On July 11, 2024, Lee announced that he would not be seeking re-election and instead be returning to the private sector at the end of his current term in office.[17]
Other activities
[edit]Lee has served as the past chair of the board of directors of Arts Umbrella, and Alumni UBC, the University of British Columbia alumni organization. He has also served as a past vice-chair and board member of Science World British Columbia, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., and Leadership Vancouver. Lee is a past board member of the YMCA of Greater Vancouver Foundation, the Justice Education Society of BC, Sustainable Cities International, and the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association.[3]
Electoral record
[edit]| 2020 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Langara | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Michael Lee | 9,888 | 48.51 | +1.05 | $58,300.21 | |||
| New Democratic | Tesicca Chi-Ying Truong | 8,431 | 41.36 | +3.30 | $42,051.83 | |||
| Green | Stephanie Hendy | 1,840 | 9.03 | −4.64 | $2,420.05 | |||
| Libertarian | Paul Matthews | 224 | 1.10 | – | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes | 20,383 | 99.12 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 180 | 0.88 | +0.23 | |||||
| Turnout | 20,563 | 49.45 | −6.99 | |||||
| Registered voters | 41,581 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | −1.12 | ||||||
| Source: Elections BC[18][19] | ||||||||
| 2017 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Langara | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Michael Lee | 10,047 | 47.46 | −5.14 | $57,579 | |||
| New Democratic | James Wang | 8,058 | 38.06 | −0.22 | $76,064 | |||
| Green | Janet Rhoda Fraser | 2,894 | 13.67 | +8.25 | $6,721 | |||
| Your Political Party | Surinder Singh Trehan | 172 | 0.81 | – | $6,699 | |||
| Total valid votes | 21,171 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 138 | 0.65 | −0.23 | |||||
| Turnout | 21,309 | 56.44 | +5.92 | |||||
| Registered voters | 37,754 | |||||||
| Source: Elections BC[20][21] | ||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Wallace, Jessica (2021-10-13). "Q&A with BC Liberal leadership candidate Michael Lee". Kamloops This Week. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ Yuzda, Liza and Denise Wong (7 February 2022). "Kevin Falcon names BC Liberal critics, will run in byelection for legislature seat". CityNews. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "MLA: Michael Lee". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ a b c 李耀華加入爭黨領 自認新人帶來新氣象 [Michael Lee joins leadership race; self-confessed newcomer brings renewal] (in Traditional Chinese). Sing Tao Daily. 2017-09-27. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "2010–2011 Board of Directors" (PDF). Trek: The magazine of the University of British Columbia. No. 28. 2010. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "Michael Lee Campaign". joinmichael.ca. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
- ^ a b c Smith, Charlie (2017-07-28). "Why B.C. Liberals might lean on Michael Lee to be their next leader after Christy Clark". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "Michael Lee looks to broaden BC Liberal appeal, tackle polarized economic debate". Alaska Highway News. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ Judd, Amy (2017-05-09). "B.C. election 2017: BC Liberals' Michael Lee elected in Vancouver Langara riding". Global News. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "B.C. election 2020: Vancouver-Langara results | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
- ^ Lupick, Travis (2017-09-22). "Vancouver MLA Michael Lee signals he's joining the race for leader of the B.C. Liberal Party". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "Newcomer Michael Lee joins crowded B.C. Liberal leadership race". CBC News. 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "Andrew Wilkinson elected B.C. Liberal leader". CBC News. 2018-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ Zussman, Richard (January 21, 2021). "Andrew Wilkinson still has not resigned as leader of the BC Liberals". Global News. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
- ^ Palmer, Vaughn (January 20, 2021). "With Stone out of the running for B.C. Liberals, speculation turns to Kevin Falcon". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ Meissner, Dirk; Charlebois, Brieanna (2022-02-05). "Former cabinet minister Kevin Falcon wins B.C. Liberal leadership race on 5th ballot". The Canadian Press, via CBC News. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
- ^ "BC United MLA Michael Lee quitting politics for private sector". Business in Vancouver. 2024-07-11. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
- ^ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- ^ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
External links
[edit]
- MLA: Michael Lee – Legislative Assembly of British Columbia biography