Liberals name Richard T. Lee as new candidate in Burnaby South

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Liberals name Richard T. Lee as new candidate in Burnaby South

MLA Richard Lee leaves caucus in Victoria, B.C., in this Thursday March 14, 2013, file photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/CHAD HIPOLITO)

The Canadian Press
Published Saturday, January 19, 2019 11:59AM EST

BURNABY, B.C. - The federal Liberals have named a new candidate to run against NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in the Burnaby South byelection.

They say former provincial legislator Richard T. Lee will replace Karen Wang on the ballot on Feb. 25.

Wang stepped aside Wednesday after she urged Chinese people to vote for her, the "only" Chinese candidate, instead of Singh, who she described as "of Indian descent."

Former Burnaby South candidate Karen Wang is asked to leave the site where she had called a news conference for by Burnaby Public Library Chief Librarian Beth Davies in Burnaby, B.C. Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

The Liberals say Lee represented Burnaby in British Columbia's legislature for 16 years, serving for a time as deputy speaker.

They note that he has lived in the city for more than three decades.

The decision for them to run a candidate in the riding was not a given: Green Party Leader Elizabeth May urged the Liberals to follow her party's lead in offering a "leader's courtesy" to Singh by not running against him.

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Liberals’ Richard Lee running in Burnaby South for ‘democracy, freedom, equality’
By Cherise Seucharan Star Metro Vancouver
Sat., Jan. 19, 2019

BURNABY, B.C.—Richard Lee focused on his community connections Saturday as he made his first public statements since being named the Liberal candidate in the Burnaby South byelection.

Lee has lived in the riding for 30 years and represented Burnaby in British Columbia’s legislature for 16 years, serving for a time as deputy speaker. He was the first Chinese-Canadian to do so, the Liberals pointed out in a statement on their website.

Richard Lee, the Liberal candidate for Burnaby South, makes his first public appearance Saturday. (Cherise Seucharan / Star Metro Vancouver)
Speaking at his campaign office, Lee answered only a few questions from reporters and said he had not spoken with Karen Wang, the Liberals’ original pick for the riding, since the social media post that led to her resignation.

Wang stepped aside Wednesday after StarMetro Vancouver translated a WeChat post in which she urged Chinese-Canadians to vote for her, the “only” ethnic Chinese candidate, instead of Singh, who she described as “of Indian descent.”

The riding was already garnering national attention as Singh vies what would be his first seat in Ottawa. He welcomed Lee to the race Saturday before quickly turning his attention to highlighting the housing crisis in the community that “was ignored or made worse by various governments.”

Lee, meanwhile, promised to run a “positive” campaign and said he will “talk to everybody.”

一二三 · 2019-01-19

自由党这招很毒啊，王姐想当独立候选人，选票都会被分离。看来自由党是铁了心要送ndp一个位置了

ccc · 2019-01-19

The Liberal Party of Canada will run Richard T. Lee, a longtime B.C. MLA, as their candidate for Burnaby South in the federal byelection.

The announcement comes days after the Liberal's first candidate, Karen Wang, quit over comments she posted on social media about NDP leader and candidate Jagmeet Singh.

On Thursday, Wang tried to have the resignation reversed, but the Liberal party said in a statement the decision was final.

Lee previously represented Burnaby as a Member of the B.C. Legislative Assembly for 16 years, where he also served as a Parliamentary Secretary.

According to a release from the party, Lee was the first Chinese-Canadian to serve as deputy speaker of the legislature. He's lived in Burnaby for 32 years.

All eyes on Burnaby
Wang has said she's considering running as an independent candidate. If she does, her deadline to re-register is Feb. 4.

In a press conference held in Burnaby on Saturday afternoon, Lee said he had not spoken to Wang since her resignation.

"Karen's comment is not aligned with the values of the party," he said, when pressed by reporters.

"I want to have a fair and positive campaign, I'm going to be door knocking, I'm going to be talking to people in the community."

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, left, places a sign on supporter Paul Pelletreau's lawn while door knocking for his byelection campaign, in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019.

Federal byelections will be held on Feb. 25 in three vacant ridings — Burnaby South, where Singh is hoping to win a seat in the House of Commons, the Ontario riding of York-Simcoe and Montreal's Outremont. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)
The Burnaby byelection is considered crucial for Singh, who is running in a seat vacated by former New Democrat MP Kennedy Stewart, who is now Vancouver's mayor.

A win would give Singh a seat in the House of Commons. He's been without one since he was elected leader of the federal NDP in October 2017.

Other candidates in the riding include Conservative Jay Shin and People's Party candidate Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Jan. 9 that byelections for the ridings of York–Simcoe in Ontario, Outremont in Quebec and Burnaby South in B.C. will be held Feb. 25.

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Richard Lee (Canadian politician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard T. Lee (simplified Chinese: 李灿明; traditional Chinese: 李燦明) was a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Lee served four consecutive terms for 16 years as MLA. He also served as the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Lee is the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in Burnaby South for a by-election being held February 25, 2019. He is attempting to defeat New Democratic Party of Canada leader Jagmeet Singh.

Biography

Lee represented the riding of North Burnaby since the 2001 election. He was re-elected in the 2005 election, 2009 election and 2013 election before being defeated in 2017. He served as Parliamentary Secretary for the Asia-Pacific Initiative from June 2005 to May 2009. Lee previously served as deputy chair of the Special Committee to Appoint a Merit Commissioner and chair of the Government Caucus Asian Economic Development Committee.

In June 2013, Lee 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 December 2013, Lee was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for traditional Chinese medicine.

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 as the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the first MLA of Asian descent in B.C. to serve in that capacity.