James Matthew Lee, (born March 29, 1937) is a former politician who was the 26th

premier of Prince Edward Island The premier of Prince Edward Island is the first minister and head of government for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Prince Edward Island. The current premier of Prince Edward Island is Dennis King (politician), Den ...

from 1981 to 1986. He was the leader of the PEI Progressive Conservative Party from 1981 to 1987. Born in

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in 1 ...

, the son of James Matthew Lee and Catherine Blanchard, Lee was educated at

Saint Dunstan's University :''St. Andrew's College, Prince Edward Island'' redirects to here. St. Dunstan's University (SDU) is a former university which was located on the northern outskirts of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. SDU merged with Prince of Wales ...

. He married Patricia Laurie in 1960.

Island MLA

After a successful career in

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

and development, Lee ran in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

as a Progressive Conservative but failed to win a

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in the provincial

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

. Lee was elected to the PEI Legislature one year later after winning a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in 1975. Lee was re-elected in 1978, 1979 and 1982. Lee ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of PEI in 1976 and narrowly lost to future premier J. Angus MacLean. When MacLean was elected Premier in 1979, Lee served in the provincial

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

as Minister of Social Services and Minister of Tourism, Parks and Conservation from 1979 to 1980 and as Minister of Health and Social Services from 1980 to 1981.

Premier

In 1981 Premier

Angus MacLean John Angus MacLean (May 15, 1914 – February 15, 2000) was a politician and farmer in Prince Edward Island, Canada. He was an alumnus of both Mount Allison University and the University of British Columbia with degrees in science. MacL ...

resigned as PC leader and James M. Lee won the PC

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

held to choose MacLean's successor, thus becoming the 26th Premier of Prince Edward Island. Lee led his party to re-election in 1982. In April 1982, he was sworn into the

Privy Council of Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

by Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. A major accomplishment by the Lee government was the successful negotiation with the federal government to obtain the establishment of a school of veterinary medicine at the

University of Prince Edward Island The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is a public university in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and the only university in the province. Founded in 1969, the enabling legislation is the ''University Act, R.S.P.E.I 2000.'' H ...

. Lee's government was defeated in the 1986 election which also cost him his

in the legislature to

Wayne Cheverie Wayne D. Cheverie (born May 19, 1950) is a Canadian former attorney, politician, government minister and currently a justice of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island He was born in Charlottetown, the son of Charles George Cheverie and Clara A ...

Life after politics

He was appointed to be a commissioner on the Canadian Pension Commission and in 1998 became chairman of the PEI Workers' Compensation Board.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, James 1937 births Living people People from Charlottetown Premiers of Prince Edward Island Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island MLAs Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island leaders Saint Dunstan's University alumni