Arthur John Lee (; born September 30, 1947) is a Canadian politician and lawyer based in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He served as a

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) representing

Vancouver East Vancouver East (french: Vancouver-Est) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. It is currently represented by New Democratic Party MP Jenny Kwan. The ...

from 1974 to 1979, and as the leader of the

British Columbia Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 Br ...

from 1984 to 1987, becoming the first

Chinese Canadian , native_name = , native_name_lang = , image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg , image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory , pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...

to lead a provincial or federal political party.

Background

Art Lee was born in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. His father ran a business in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

after serving in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

, and his great-grandfather worked as a translator during the construction of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. After graduating from the

University of Alberta Faculty of Law The University of Alberta Faculty of Law is the graduate school of law of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Established as an undergraduate faculty in 1912 it is the third oldest law school in Canada, and often considered th ...

in 1972, he was called to the bar in

in 1973, and joined the law firm of Frank Lew in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. As a fourth-generation Chinese Canadian, Art Lee was not fluent in the

Chinese language Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...

. After becoming MP, he took

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

lessons to facilitate communications with Chinese residents in his constituency.

Political career

Federal politics

Lee ran as a candidate of the

in the 1974 federal election, winning the riding of

against incumbent

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(NDP) candidate

Paddy Neale Charles Patrick Neale (January 21, 1921 – February 9, 1990) was a Canadians, Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district (Canada), electoral district of Vancouver East in the House of Commons of Canada from 1972 to 1974. He was ...

by just 57 votes. 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. In the subsequent 1979 election, he lost the seat to NDP candidate

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel, published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel '' Gone with the Wind'', for which she wo ...

, and again in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

Provincial politics

After

Shirley McLoughlin Shirley McLoughlin (born 1930)"Liberal fortunes rising: leader". ''The Globe and Mail'', October 17, 1983. is a former Canadian politician, who was the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1981 to 1983. She was the first woman ever to ...

resigned as leader of the

in 1983, Lee won the leadership election in 1984 against three opponents. 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 The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria. Members are elected from provincial r ...

. Lee attempted to enter the legislature by running in the

by-election on November 8, 1984, but lost to

British Columbia New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of British Columbia (BC NDP) is a social-democratic provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. As of 2017, it governs the province. It is the British Columbia provincial arm of the federal New Democrati ...

candidate

Bob Williams Robert, Rob, Robbie, Bob or Bobby Williams may refer to: Entertainment Film * Robert Williams (actor, born 1894) (1894–1931), American stage and film actor * Robert B. Williams (actor) (1904–1978), American film actor * R. J. Williams (born ...

. In the 1986 provincial election, Lee ran for one of two seats in

Vancouver-Little Mountain Vancouver-Little Mountain was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared on the hustings in the general election of 1966 as a two-member seat. It returned two members from 1966 to 1986 and one ...

alongside fellow Liberal candidate Joyce Statton; the seats were won by incumbent

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

candidates

Grace McCarthy Grace Mary McCarthy, OC, OBC, LLD, DTech, FRAIC (Hon.) (née Winterbottom; October 14, 1927 – May 24, 2017) was a Canadian politician and florist in British Columbia. A high-ranking member of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia, she ...

and

Doug Mowat Douglas Lyle Mowat (May 16, 1929 – August 11, 1992) was a Canadian politician, who served as a Social Credit Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1983 to 1991, representing the riding of Vancouver-Little Mountain. A q ...

. The Liberals were once again shut out of the legislature, but the party won 6.74% of the popular vote, more than double what they had received in the 1983 election. Thereafter Lee announced his resignation as party leader, staying on until Gordon Wilson was acclaimed as the new Liberal leader in October 1987.

Election results

Provincial

Federal

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Art 1947 births Living people Lawyers in British Columbia Leaders of the British Columbia Liberal Party Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia People from Lethbridge County British Columbia Liberal Party candidates in British Columbia provincial elections Canadian politicians of Chinese descent Politicians from Vancouver University of Alberta Faculty of Law alumni