School trustee and former councillor Don Lee dies

Vancouver school trustee and former councillor Don Lee died over the weekend.

Lee, who was admired by many for his integrity  and hard work,  had been staying in a hospice.

He was born in China in the mid-1930s. His mother died when he was very young; his father worked as a janitor in Canada.

Lee couldn't move to Canada to be reunited with his father until he was 13 years old. That was  because of a law banning Chinese immigration to this country until 1947.

So he was raised by relatives in China, and didn't arrive in Vancouver until 1949.

From that point on, he was a latchkey kid because his father worked at night. Lee once told  the Straight  that he regretted not spending more time with his dad.  

Lee worked extremely hard, made it into UBC, and eventually became a math teacher.

He said that he  studied math because he could then become a teacher without having to speak English flawlessly.

He taught for 26 years at Templeton secondary school.

"As a teacher, I treat my students in a very decent way," Lee told the Straight in 2002.  

He also did the same for the citizens after he was elected to Vancouver city council in 1996.

In those days, Chinese-speaking residents from across the city often contacted the indefatiguable Don  Lee for help. This meant that he probably had twice the workload of some of his colleagues.

Lee's political stances often brought him in conflict with many left-wing activists, but he always acted with civility.

He  had a favourable view  of  the Wal-Mart proposal in Southeast Vancouver, saying it would benefit poor immigrants who were looking for lower prices.

As a councillor, he also  raised concerns about the Four Pillar approach for dealing with drug addiction. In the end, he and the NPA caucus supported the staff recommendations.

Despite this, he was painted as a reactionary in Nettie Wild's documentary Fix, which was distributed before the 2002 civic election.

The film  left the impression  that NPA Mayor Philip Owen was driven from office by conservative forces within his own party--a view that Lee and his fellow NPA councillors adamantly rejected.

"I feel that that film is the most horrible film ever," Lee said in an interview with the Straight in 2002.

He maintained that Jennifer Clarke, the  NPA's 2002 mayoral candidate, asked Owen if he intended to run. And if so, then Clarke said she would not put her name forward as the NPA's mayoral candidate.

"I'm so sad that Jennifer didn't write it in a letter form," Lee said at the time. "I worked with Jennifer for six years. I feel that if she said it many many times....I believe that statement."

Lee opposed individual compensation for head-tax payers, even though he was a victim of the exclusion of Chinese immigrants to Canada from 1923 to 1947.

He often aligned himself with the federal Liberals, and played an important role behind the scenes in helping David Emerson win the Vancouver Kingsway seat in the 2004 federal election over the NDP's Ian Waddell.

Lee also helped promote the mayoral aspirations of Sam Sullivan, with whom he sat on council for six years.

"Don was a great public servant, a trusted advisor and a good friend," Sullivan said in a news release issued today. "We can all be inspired by Don's legacy of community service and his unwavering effort to help those less fortunate."