Quick Facts
Biography
Arthur John Lee (born September 30, 1947) is a politician and lawyer in British Columbia (BC), Canada.
Career
Lee was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada to represent the electoral district of Vancouver East (BC) in the 1974 federal election. He lost the subsequent election in 1979 and again in 1980.
From 1984 to 1987, he served as the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party at a time when the party was very unpopular because of its association with the federal Liberal Party. He was the first Chinese Canadian leader of a party in Canada. The party had no seats in the British Columbia Legislative Assembly during his leadership. In the 1986 election, however, the party won 6.74% of the popular vote, more than double they had won in the previous election.
Election results
| Canadian federal election, 1980 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| New Democratic | Margaret Anne Mitchell | 14,245 | 43.91 | +1.21 | ||||
| Liberal | Arthur John "Art" Lee | 12,979 | 40.01 | +0.97 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | David N. Kilbey | 4,742 | 14.62 | -1.92 | ||||
| Rhinoceros | Dandy Randy Lyttle | 198 | 0.61 | – | ||||
| Communist | J. Fred Wilson | 179 | 0.55 | +0.02 | ||||
| Independent | Paul Tetreault | 61 | 0.19 | – | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Chaouac Ferron | 34 | 0.10 | -0.03 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,438 | 100.0 | ||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +0.12 | ||||||
| Canadian federal election, 1979 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| New Democratic | Margaret Anne Mitchell | 13,697 | 42.71 | +6.44 | ||||
| Liberal | Arthur John "Art" Lee | 12,522 | 39.04 | +2.57 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Cecil H. Leng | 5,304 | 16.54 | -8.91 | ||||
| Social Credit | Carlo Dallavalle | 334 | 1.04 | – | ||||
| Communist | J. Fred Wilson | 170 | 0.53 | -0.59 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Brian K. Sproule | 44 | 0.14 | -0.55 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,071 | 100.0 | ||||||
| New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +1.94 | ||||||
| Canadian federal election, 1974 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Liberal | Arthur J. "Art" Lee | 9,671 | 36.48 | +5.13 | ||||
| New Democratic | C.P. Paddy Neale | 9,614 | 36.26 | -12.55 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Hartley Hubbs | 6,747 | 25.45 | +8.91 | ||||
| Communist | Maurice Rush | 298 | 1.12 | +0.38 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Charles Boylan | 181 | 0.68 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 26,511 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | +8.84 | ||||||