Vivienne Poy (née Lee; ; born May 15, 1941) is a Canadian businesswoman, author and philanthropist. She served as a member of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

from 1998 until her retirement in 2012.

Early life and education

On May 15, 1941, Poy was born in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

. She is the daughter of Richard Charles Lee Ming-Chak and Esther Yiu Pik Wong (黃瑤璧;

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 ...

: Wong Yiu-Pik, Pinyin: ''Huáng Yáobì''). Poy's paternal grandfather was Hysan Lee, who was tied to the Hong Kong

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

refinery business and also land development in the early 1900s. In 1959, Poy was a student in Canada. She is a graduate of St. Paul's Co-educational College (in Hong Kong),

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a multiple-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada regions. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccalaureate, diploma, certificate and ...

and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Achievements

Poy was appointed by Prime Minister

Jean Chretien Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

to the Senate in 1998. becoming the first Canadian senator of Asian ancestry. For 14 years, Poy served as president of Vivienne Poy Mode, a

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

design company that she founded 1981. She was selected as

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the University of Toronto in December 2002 and served until 2006.

Asian Heritage Month

In 2001, the

adopted a motion put forth by Poy to designate the month of May a
Asian Heritage Month
in Canada and it was officially declared as such the following year.

Canada's National Anthem

Poy was an early proponent of changing the lyrics of Canada's National Anthem to more inclusive wording by changing the line "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command. Her argument centered around the fact that the proposed wording was the original lyric after having been changed to "sons" during the First World War in order to encourage young men to enlist. Poy put sponsored the change twice with sufficient votes but the action was halted each time due to

prorogation Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the period ...

of Parliament.

Famous Five Monument

Poy was and instrumental sponsor for the creation of a monument to

The Famous Five ''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's Adventure fiction, adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures ...

Books and Publications

Poy has authored a number of non-fiction books including: . * Heroes & Gamblers: Tales of Survival and Good Fortune of the Poy Family - Calyan Publishing Limited, Toronto, 2015. * Passage to Promise Land - McGill/Queen's University Press, Montreal & Kingston, London, Ithaca, 2013. * Profit, Victory, and Sharpness: the Lees of Hong Kong - York Centre for Asian Research, York University, Hong Kong Institute of Education, 2006. * Citizenship and Immigration: the Chinese-Canadian Experience - The Nortel Networks' Canadian Studies Address No. 1 University of Wollongong Press and the Centre for Canadian-Australian Studies, Wollongong, Australia, 2002. * Building Bridges: the Life and Times of Richard Charles Lee Hong Kong 1905 - 1983 - Calyan Publishing Limited, Toronto, 1998. * A River Named Lee - Calyan Publishing Limited, Toronto, 1995.

Honours and Awards

* International Women's Day Award (1996) * Arbor Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, University of Toronto (1997) * Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) * Officer of the Order of St. John (2003) * Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Trailblazer category, Women's Executive Network (2003) * Eid-ul-Fitr Award, Association of Progressive Muslims of Canadas (2005) * Distinguished Alumni Award, Seneca College (2004) * Golden Mountain Achievement Award, Victoria, BC (2008) * Chinese Canadian Legends Association (2009) * Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award Winner, ''Canadian Immigrant'' magazine (2010) *

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

(2012) * NAAAP100 Award, National Association of Asian American Professionals (2012) * Most Successful Women Award, Jessica Magazine (2013) * Lifetime Achievement Award, Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs (2014) * Heritage Award, Transformation Awards, Diversity Expo (2014) * G. Raymond Chang Award, University of the West Indies, (2016)

Personal

Poy's husband is Dr.

Neville Poy Neville George Poy, OC, FRCS(C), FACS (Chinese: 伍衛權; Cantonese Ńgh Waih-Kyùhn; born October 29, 1934, in British Hong Kong), is a Canadian philanthropist, photographer and retired plastic surgeon. He is the husband of former Senator Vi ...

, a retired plastic surgeon, and together they have 3 sons: Ashley, Carter and Justin to whom she donated a kidney in 2008 . Poy's sister-in-law is

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...

, who served as

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

from 1999 to 2005.

References

External links

* *
The story behind the surname Poy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poy, Vivienne 1941 births Living people Alumni of St. Paul's Co-educational College Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian fashion designers Canadian senators from Ontario Women members of the Senate of Canada Chancellors of the University of Toronto Hong Kong emigrants to Canada Liberal Party of Canada senators Canadian politicians of Hong Kong descent McGill University alumni Politicians from Toronto Seneca College alumni University of Toronto alumni Women in Ontario politics Writers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian politicians of Chinese descent Canadian women fashion designers