Dear Editor
Re: “Richard Lee recall campaign mum on progress,” Burnabynow.com, May 15.
The campaign to recall Burnaby North MLA Richard Lee has passed the half-way point, and the B.C. Citizens for Recall is mum on how many signatures they have collected so far. Hopefully, this is because they have not been successful in collecting the required amount of signatures for the recall.
BCCR’s complaint about Lee is basically that he has not been doing a good job, and people in the riding either don’t know who he is or are unhappy about how he deals with the issues. He has been “invisible”. In a representational democracy, you can never please everyone.
The real issue is not whether some of us are happy or unhappy with his performance; rather, if an MLA has been duly elected, is it democratic to remove him from office in between elections? In Lee’s case, he has been elected four consecutive terms in Burnaby North, the last one being in 2013. I say the majority of people in Burnaby North have spoken, loud and clear, and for many years, as to whom they prefer to represent them in Victoria.
The BCCR wants to “bring democracy back to B.C.”, and I am all for that. But perhaps there is good reason why B.C. is the only province where people can petition to remove an MLA between elections – it is undemocratic and an attack on representational democracy. If BCCR wishes to abolish the Recall and Initiative Act, I would be happy to support it. In the meantime, the last thing we need is a byelection in Burnaby North. If you don’t like Lee, don’t vote for him next time. Meanwhile, he is our political representative and he deserves our respect.
Nelson M. Tsui, Burnaby
