# Richard Lee (Canadian politician)

Richard T. Lee (simplified Chinese: 李灿明; traditional Chinese: 李燦明; born 1954) is a Canadian politician. A city councillor in Burnaby, British Columbia (BC) since 2022, he previously represented the electoral district of Burnaby North in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 2001 to 2017, as part of the BC Liberal caucus.

## Background

Born in Zhongshan, People's Republic of China in 1954, Lee lived in Hong Kong and Macau before moving to Canada in 1971 to join his grandfather, who entered the country in 1913 by paying the Chinese head tax. He studied physics and mathematics at the University of British Columbia, earning a bachelor of science degree in 1976 and a master of science degree in 1980; he also worked at the university as a programmer analyst at Triumf. He has lived in Burnaby since 1986 with his late wife Anne, with whom he raised three children.

## Political career

A member of the BC Liberal Party since 1993, Lee first contested the riding of Burnaby North in the 1996 election, but lost to Pietro Calendino of the BC New Democratic Party (NDP). He faced Calendino again in the 2001 election, this time winning the seat with 54.37% of the vote. He was re-elected in the 2005, 2009 and 2013 elections before losing to the NDP's Janet Routledge in 2017.
During his time as member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), he served as Parliamentary Secretary for the Asia-Pacific Initiative from June 2005 to May 2009, as well as deputy chair of the Special Committee to Appoint a Merit Commissioner and chair of the Government Caucus Asian Economic Development Committee. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Asia Pacific Strategy to the Minister of International Trade and Minister Responsible for the Asia Pacific Strategy and Multiculturalism in June 2013, and Parliamentary Secretary for traditional Chinese medicine in December of the same year.
In April 2015, a constituent in Burnaby North launched a recall petition under the BC Elections Act. The proponent turned in less than 10% of the required number of signatures and the petition failed.
In September 2015, Lee was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the first MLA of Asian descent in B.C. to serve in that capacity.
Following the resignation of Karen Wang, Lee took over as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in the 2019 Burnaby South federal by-election, against New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh and Conservative Party of Canada candidate Jay Shin. Lee finished in second place behind Singh, with 26% of the vote. Due to his wife's illness, he declined to seek the Liberal nomination for Burnaby South in the October 2019 federal election, thereby ruling out a rematch with Singh.
Lee joined municipal party One Burnaby in 2022, and was elected to the Burnaby City Council in that year's municipal election.

## 2015 detention in China

In November 2015, Lee and his family were detained by the Chinese Public Security Bureau upon arrival to Shanghai, China. During his detention, Chinese officials examined his personal phone, and BC Legislative Assembly phone. Lee and his family were released without charge and was forcibly removed from China.
Lee later recounted his experience to various members of Canada's Federal Cabinet and then-Chinese ambassador to Canada Lu Shaye, but received no acknowledgement of the incident from both the Government of Canada, nor the Government of China. Lee elected not to publicly disclose the incident until November 2019, citing concerns of creating a rift in Canada–China bilateral relations.
The Prime Minister's Office acknowledged receipt of Lee's correspondence 4 years later, in November 2019.

## Electoral record
### Federal elections

vteCanadian federal by-election, February 25, 2019: Burnaby South Resignation of Kennedy Stewart :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | New Democratic | Jagmeet Singh | 8,848 | 38.90 | +3.83 |
| | Liberal | Richard T. Lee | 5,919 | 26.02 | –7.86 |
| | Conservative | Jay Shin | 5,147 | 22.63 | –4.48 |
| | People's | Laura-Lynn Thompson | 2,422 | 10.65 | – |
| | Independent | Terry Grimwood | 242 | 1.06 | – |
| | Independent | Valentine Wu | 168 | 0.74 | – |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 22,746 | 99.17 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 190 | 0.83 | +0.23 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,936 | 30.10 | -30.68 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 76,204 |
| | New Democratic hold | New Democratic hold | Swing | Swing | +5.84 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||

### Provincial elections

vte2017 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Janet Routledge | 11,448 | 48.57 | +4.72 | $53,926.39 |
| | Liberal | Richard T. Lee | 9,290 | 39.42 | −7.40 | $62,342.21 |
| | Green | Peter Hallschmid | 2,831 | 12.01 | +5.01 | $1,106.54 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 23,569 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 171 | 0.72 | −0.03 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,740 | 60.39 | +5.36 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 39,312 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2013 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Richard T. Lee | 10,543 | 46.82 |
| | New Democratic | Janet Routledge | 9,875 | 43.85 |
| | Green | Carrie McLaren | 1,577 | 7.00 |
| | No Affiliation | Wayne Michael Marklund | 523 | 2.32 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 22,518 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 170 | 0.75 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,688 | 55.03 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2009 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Richard T. Lee | 9,880 | 48.19 |
| | New Democratic | Mondee Redman | 9,332 | 45.51 |
| | Green | Doug Perry | 1,292 | 6.30 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 20,504 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 178 | 0.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,682 | 53.85 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2005 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Richard T. Lee | 10,421 | 45.59 |
| | New Democratic | Pietro Calendino | 10,356 | 45.31 |
| | Green | Richard Brand | 1,763 | 7.71 |
| | Democratic Reform | Matthew Laird | 316 | 1.38 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 22,856 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 155 | 0.68 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,011 | 59.76 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2001 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Richard T. Lee | 11,062 | 54.37 |
| | New Democratic | Pietro Calendino | 5,992 | 29.45 |
| | Green | Tom Hetherington | 2,824 | 13.88 |
| | Marijuana | Dale Ware | 466 | 2.30 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 20,344 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 102 | 0.50 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,446 | 71.52 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte1996 British Columbia general election: Burnaby North :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | New Democratic | Pietro Calendino | 8,926 | 45.47 |
| | Liberal | Richard T. Lee | 8,160 | 41.57 |
| | Reform | Daniela Bosa | 1,081 | 5.51 |
| | Progressive Democrat | Richard A.Y Lee | 976 | 4.97 |
| | Green | Tom Hetherington | 395 | 2.01 |
| | Natural Law | Derek Nadeau | 62 | 0.31 |
| | Libertarian | Carlo Nigro | 31 | 0.16 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 19,631 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 180 | 0.91 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,811 | 72.70 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||

### Municipal elections

2022 Burnaby City Council election
| Party | Council candidate | Vote | % |
| Burnaby Citizens Association | Alison Gu (X) | 17,340 | 8.08 |
| Burnaby Citizens Association | James Wang (X) | 13,024 | 6.07 |
| Burnaby Citizens Association | Pietro Calendino (X) | 12,494 | 5.82 |
| Burnaby Citizens Association | Sav Dhaliwal (X) | 12,335 | 5.74 |
| Burnaby Green Party | Joe Keithley (X) | 11,383 | 5.30 |
| Burnaby Citizens Association | Maita Santiago | 11,347 | 5.28 |
| One Burnaby | Richard T. Lee | 11,231 | 5.23 |
| Burnaby Citizens Association | Daniel Tetrault | 10,891 | 5.07 |