Lee Richardson (politician)

Lee Richardson
Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Preceded by	Joe Clark
Member of Parliament for Calgary Southeast
In office 1988–1993
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Jan Brown
Personal details
Born	October 31, 1947 (1947-10-31) North Battleford, Saskatchewan
Political party	Conservative
Residence	Calgary
Profession	Business Administration
Religion	United Church

Lee Richardson (born October 31, 1947 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian politician. He is a member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Calgary Centre for the Conservative Party of Canada. He was first elected to parliament in the 1988 election as a Progressive Conservative representing the riding of Calgary Southeast. In 1993, he lost his seat to a candidate of the Reform Party.

He returned to politics in 2004, running in Calgary Centre, which had previously been held by PC leader Joe Clark. He was re-elected in 2006, capturing 55.4 percent of the vote and a 20,000 vote plurality and once again in 2008, capturing 55.6 percent of the vote. He serves as Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade in the current session of parliament.

Early career

Prior to entering Parliament in 1988, Richardson was Deputy Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister's Office, and Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Western Affairs. From 1979 to 1983, Richardson was Chief of Staff to Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed. As a parliamentarian, Richardson served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications, and as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport. He was instrumental in relocating the National Energy Board to Calgary and placing the Calgary International Airport under local authority.

He is President of Lee Richardson Financial Corporation. He is Chairman of the Board of STI Streetlight Intelligence, a publicly traded technology company.

He served on the board of directors for the 1988 Winter Olympics. on the board of Southminster United Church and serves as a Calgary Homeless Foundation board member. He was Chair of the Advisory Board to the University of Calgary Institute for the Humanities and was on the faculty of the Banff Centre for Management for ten years. He is on the Calgary Stampede Board of Directors and is a Calgary Flames Ambassador. Richardson received the Queen Elizabeth Medal in 1977 "in recognition of significant contribution to compatriots, community and to Canada.", the Canada Medal in 1992 and the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005

Richardson is a widower with three adult children.

Parliamentary duties

Among his parliamentary duties Richardson serves as the Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade. According to the Montreal Gazette, “the International Trade Committee, under the genial chair of Conservative Lee Richardson, is a collegial exception to the toxic tone of most House committees.”

In the most recent session of Parliament, the International Trade Committee successfully vetted three free trade agreements, an example of the genial nature of the committee under Richardson’s chair. The committee went clause by clause through and referred back to the House the following trade agreements; Bill C-2: An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Colombia and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Colombia (Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act), Bill C-8: An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (Canada-Jordan Free Trade Act) and Bill C-46: An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Panama, the Agreement on the Environment between Canada and the Republic of Panama and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Panama (Canada-Panama Free Trade Act).

Payments to RackNine Inc.

Lee Richardson was one of twelve MPs discovered to have used the services of RackNine incorporated during the 2011 election. Two invoices from RackNine were paid by the Lee Richardson campaign. One for $501.87 and another for $5,735.00 . It was discovered that RackNine's services were used to send out automated telephone messages that redirected voters to fake polling stations. The voice claimed to be a representative from Elections Canada, which was not true . It is uncertain whether or not funds from the Richardson campaign were used to pay for these automated telephone calls.

Dated a CBC national affairs reporter

In March 2010, The Chronicle Herald newspaper broke the news that Richardson and CBC national politi­cal reporter Krista Erickson were dating. Concerns were raised since she was registered as the designated trav­eller for the MP, which means she was entitled to re­ceive flights paid for by tax­payers. Mary Agnes Welch, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists, and Kevin Gaudet, of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, called it a conflict of interest. Richardson maintains that the national affairs political reporter does not do stories covering him or the Conservative party.

In November 2010, an article on the Globe and Mail website indicated that Erickson was the only reporter allowed to book a room in the same Charlottetown hotel where the Conservative caucus was staying (a hotel in which all other reporters covering the meeting were eventually evicted.) A source told the Globe and Mail that Erickson's relationship with Richardson was the subject of discussion among Conservative staffers and spouses in Charlottetown.

Spending

In the 2009 fiscal year, Richardson charged $535,644 to his MP expense account. This makes Richardson the highest spending Member of Parliament in Alberta. This amount far surpassed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's budget of only $189,774.

Grant to Streetlight Intelligence

On March 31, 2009, Natural Resources Canada awarded a $185,000 grant to Streetlight Intelligence Ltd., a company of which Richardson is Chairman of the Board. Richardson has denied knowledge of the grant.

Richardson is also listed as the Chairman of Compensation Committee, a Member of Disclosure Policy Committee, a Member of Audit Committee, and a Member of Corporate Governance Committee.

During the 2011 federal election, Streetlight Intelligence Ltd. ceased operations and issued layoff notices to all of its employees. Additionally, it was discovered that Enmax, a publicly-owned utility, was the primary shareholder. This became an issue during the election, however Richardson denied being involved in the day-to-day operations of the company despite being the chairman. The fact that Hydro Ottawa, another publicly-owned utility, owns shares in the company has also caused controversy.

Linking immigrants to crime

On September 25, 2008, Richardson made controversial statements suggesting that immigrants were to blame for much of the crime activity in Calgary. Richardson announced, "Talk to the police. Look at who's committing these crimes, they're not the kid that grew up next door", to Fast Forward Weekly when asked about gun violence in Calgary. Both Liberals and NDP demanded his resignation. He expressed no regret for the words he chose, insisting that he meant to talk about the "youth gangs in the cities", and this only when called back and asked if he would like to clarify his statements. He offered no apology or any sign of resignation. Sgt. Bill Dodd of the Calgary Police Service diversity resources unit said the service doesn't track statistics on where the city's criminals hail from. His 16 years as a city cop, however, tells him immigrants shouldn't be blamed for crime woes. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended Richardson, calling the reporting "gotcha journalism" for taking his comments out of their intended context.

On September 26, 2008, The Calgary Herald ran the story, “Sliming of Tory a typical campaign crock" the article went on to say, “In the latest campaign sliming, Calgary Centre incumbent Lee Richardson is accused of being an anti-immigrant racist—a bizarre allegation against a man who does more for immigrants than any federal politician in the city.” When asked if Richardson was a racist former Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed said “That’s completely false. There’s no foundation to it at all. I’ve worked with Lee over many years and I know from his statements and actions that it’s not the way he thinks.” The truth is much of what Richardson’s riding office due is immigrant case work. When Henry Madelbaum, a Colombian-born constituent heard about the allegations he decided he had to say something. “He helped us so much when we had long delays in getting our citizenship,” Mandelbaum says. “Anything they say about him like that is not true. I’m shocked to hear anybody say that about him.” Richardson’s municipal colleague Ward 8 Alderman John Mar, of Chinese origin adamantly defended him as well. “Lee has been reprinting Chinatown for years as MP,” Mar says. “He has a lot of friends in the Chinese community, including my father, Allan Mar. He represents the very best of Calgary in term of support for multiculturalism. He is not a racist of bigot, and anybody who knows him knows that.”

External links

• Lee Richardson - Parliament of Canada biography
• How'd They Vote?: Lee Richardson