Michael Lee
MLA
李耀華
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Vancouver-Langara
Assumed office
May 9, 2017
Preceded byMoira Stilwell
Personal details
Born1964 or 1965 (age 58–59)[1]
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Political partyBC United
SpouseChristina Yan-Lee
Alma mater
ProfessionLawyer
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 has represented the electoral district of Vancouver-Langara in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 2017. 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

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

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]

Other activities

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

2020 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Langara
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMichael Lee9,88848.51+1.05$58,300.21
New DemocraticTesicca Chi-Ying Truong8,43141.36+3.30$42,051.83
GreenStephanie Hendy1,8409.03−4.64$2,420.05
LibertarianPaul Matthews2241.10–$0.00
Total valid votes 20,383100.00–
Total rejected ballots 1800.88+0.23
Turnout 20,56349.45−6.99
Registered voters 41,581
Liberal hold Swing −1.13
Source: Elections BC[17][18]
2017 British Columbia general election: Vancouver-Langara
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMichael Lee10,04747.46−5.14$57,579
New DemocraticJames Wang8,05838.06−0.22$76,064
GreenJanet Rhoda Fraser2,89413.67+8.25$6,721
Your Political PartySurinder Singh Trehan1720.81–$6,699
Total valid votes 21,171100.00–
Total rejected ballots 1380.65−0.23
Turnout 21,30956.44+5.92
Registered voters 37,754
Source: Elections BC[19][20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wallace, Jessica (2021-10-13). "Q&A with BC Liberal leadership candidate Michael Lee". Kamloops This Week. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "MLA: Michael Lee". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  4. 1 2 3 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.
  5. ↑ "2010–2011 Board of Directors" (PDF). Trek: The magazine of the University of British Columbia. No. 28. 2010. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  6. ↑ "Michael Lee Campaign". joinmichael.ca. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  7. 1 2 3 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.
  8. ↑ "Michael Lee looks to broaden BC Liberal appeal, tackle polarized economic debate". Alaska Highway News. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  9. ↑ Judd, Amy (2017-05-09). "B.C. election 2017: BC Liberals' Michael Lee elected in Vancouver Langara riding". Global News. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  10. ↑ "B.C. election 2020: Vancouver-Langara results | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2021-09-23.
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ "Newcomer Michael Lee joins crowded B.C. Liberal leadership race". CBC News. 2017-09-26. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  13. ↑ "Andrew Wilkinson elected B.C. Liberal leader". CBC News. 2018-02-03. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  14. ↑ Zussman, Richard (January 21, 2021). "Andrew Wilkinson still has not resigned as leader of the BC Liberals". Global News. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  19. ↑ "2017 Provincial General Election - Statement of Votes" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  20. ↑ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
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