Raymond Louie

Raymond Louie (traditional Chinese: 雷建華; simplified Chinese: 雷建华; pinyin: Léi Jiànhuá; born January 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician. He is a five-term Vancouver City Councillor and a former school Trustee. Formerly a member of Coalition of Progressive Electors civic party, Louie broke away and was re-elected in 2005, and again in 2008, 2011, and 2014 as a member of Vision Vancouver.

Raymond Louie
Vancouver City Councillor
In office
December 2, 2002 – November 5, 2018
Personal details
BornVancouver, British Columbia
NationalityCanadian
Political partyVision Vancouver (2005 - present)
COPE (? - 2005)

Background

Louie was born and raised in East Vancouver, and has ancestry from Zhongshan, Guangdong, China. His family ran a local bakery.[1] He was the youngest of three siblings.[1] He is distantly related to billionaire businessman Brandt Louie.[2] Louie attended Nootka Elementary School and Windermere Secondary School.[1] After graduating from high school he attended British Columbia Institute of Technology, yet never graduated.[1] Louie worked at Mail-O-Matic Services, a local mailing house, and as a mailer with Pacific Newspaper Group.[1] While working at Pacific Newspaper Group, Louie became a National Representative for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.

Vancouver City Council

Louie was first elected to Vancouver City Council in 2002, and was re-elected in 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014.[3]

As a City Councillor, Louie is on a number of local organizations, including, the Parent Advisory Committee for Maquinna Annex and Community Visions, a community liaison group in Hastings-Sunrise.

In Council, Louie has served in numerous city committees:

  • Member, Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
  • Member, Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic
  • Member, Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets
  • Director, Vancouver Parking Corporation
  • Director, Vancouver Civic Theatres Board
  • Co-Chair, Steering Committee for the redevelopment of Southeast False Creek
  • Vice-Chair, City Creative Task Force
  • Co-Chair, Mayor's Working Group on Immigration
  • Director, Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD)
  • Director, GVRD Labour Relations Bureau
  • Director, GVRD Finance Committee
  • Director, Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (GVTA)
  • Director, GVTA Finance and Audit Committee
  • member of COPE

Homeless Emergency Action Team

Louie was one of three elected officials who served on Homeless Emergency Action Team,[4] which conceived the controversial[5][6][7] Homeless Emergency Action Team (HEAT) shelters.

Mayoral aspirations

In a 2007 interview, former Vancouver Mayor and current Senator, Larry Campbell, described Louie as a future mayor of Vancouver. Campbell added that he still holds that view, but wouldn't say if Louie should run for mayor in 2008. "That would be up to Raymond," Campbell said. "I just know that someday he'll be mayor. I don't know when that will be."[8] On March 12, 2008, Louie announced his intention to run for the Vision Vancouver mayoral nomination.[9] In an effort to secure the Vision Vancouver nomination, Louie outspent all mayoral hopefuls by spending a total of $243,621.[10] However, in June 2008 he was defeated in the Vision Vancouver nomination race by Gregor Robertson, who went on to win the subsequent general election.[11]

Family life

Louie lives in East Vancouver with his wife Tonya and their three children.[3] He is an avid cyclist and has participated in the Gastown Grand Prix and Tour de White Rock.[3]

gollark: But you can't produce everything necessary within one commune.
gollark: They're cooperative a bit with whatever group they identify with, which probably has to be small if you don't want problems.
gollark: People ARE NOT COOPERATIVE at large scales.
gollark: It's *socially* far away, generally.
gollark: Nope!

References
  1. "Raymond Louie: Detailed, Hardworking, Part of the Solution", Vancouver Observer, December 13, 2008.
  2. Vancouver's Canadian-born Chinese in their 30s and 40s make their mark, no small thanks to Milton Wong
  3. "Councillor Raymond Louie", Vancouver City Council Website, Accessed August 27, 2009.
  4. "Mayor Robertson announces creation of Homeless Emergency Action Team", Gregor Robertson press release, December 9, 2008.
  5. "Controversial homeless shelter to shut down Aug. 7" Archived 2009-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, Vancouver Sun, July 30, 2009.
  6. "Decision on HEAT shelter closure likely today" Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine, Metro Vancouver, July 29, 2009.
  7. "Controversial homeless shelter reopens"
  8. Senator "Campbell swats Gregor Robertson, praises Raymond Louie", Georgia Straight, August 23, 2007.
  9. "City Councilor Raymond Louie officially declares his quest to be Vancouver mayor", GungHaggisFatChoy, March 13, 2008.
  10. "Coun. Raymond Louie blows big money in defeat", Vancouver Courier, March 18, 2009.
  11. "It's Robertson vs. Ladner for mayor" Archived 2012-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, Vancouver Sun, June 16, 2008.
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