Terry Lake

The Honourable Dr. Terry Lake MLA
City Councillor for Kamloops
In office 2002–2005
Mayor of Kamloops
In office 2005–2008
MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson
Incumbent
Assumed office 2009
Preceded by	Kevin Krueger
Minister of Environment of British Columbia
In office March 14, 2011 – April 16, 2013
Premier	Christy Clark
Preceded by	Murray Coell
Minister of Health of British Columbia
In office June, 2013 – Incumbent
Premier	Christy Clark
Preceded by	Margaret MacDiarmid
Personal details
Born	1957 Odiham, England
Political party	BC Liberal
Spouse(s)	Lisa Lake
Children	Shannon, Stephanie, Gemma
Residence	Kamloops, British Columbia
Occupation	veterinarian

Terry Lake is a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada, and a member of the BC Liberal Party. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the riding of Kamloops-North Thompson in the 2009 provincial election. In the 39th Parliament of British Columbia, Lake was not named to Premier Gordon Campbell's cabinet, but he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Ranching Task Force and, following that task force's work, Lake was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Health Promotion. Lake also chaired the Sled Dog Task Force. Once Christy Clark became premier she appointed Lake,on March 14, 2011, the Minister of Environment.

Lake gained media attention when he chaired the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives. When the provincial government announced the intention to introduce the Harmonized Sales Tax, a petition against the tax was circulated across the province, gaining the requirement number of signatures to force the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives to either order a referendum on the tax legislation or forward the issue to the Legislative Assembly. Lake's involvement with the HST led to a recall campaign against him in early 2011, but which failed.

Prior to being elected as a MLA, Lake was elected to one term (2005–2008) as mayor of the City of Kamloops and one term (2002–2005) as a councillor of the city. In Kamloops, Lake made priorities of developing a convention centre and expanding the airport. He was also involved is passing citywide vicious dog bylaw and regulations on performances by exotic animals. He served on the executive of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities in 2005 and on the board of BC Transit from 2006 to 2008.

A veterinarian by training, he was an animal health technology instructor at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops from 1997 to 2005. He had an early career in broadcasting, but eventually became a veterinarian. He owned Coquitlam Animal Hospital from 1989 to 1996, before moving to Kamloops with his family. He is a past vice-president and treasurer for the World Small Animal Veterinary Association.

Background

Lake was born in Odiham, Hampshire, England, to a father, Morris, who worked as an electrician in the Royal Air Force. Morris moved his family, which included two daughters and two sons, to numerous air force bases around the world, including Calgary, Germany and Saudi Arabia.^[1] They moved, in 1972, to the Okanagan area of British Columbia where Terry graduated from high school. He attended Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, where he studied journalism and worked for Broadcast News. He went on to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon where he graduated with a doctorate degree in veterinary medicine.^[1] He then moved to Coquitlam, British Columbia, where he opened his own veterinary practice, in 1989, called the Coquitlam Animal Hospital. He became active in the B.C. Veterinary Medical Association serving as a councilor and secretary-treasurer. He was recognized by Tourism Vancouver with a "Be a Host Legacy Award" in 1997 for his efforts in attracting the World Small Animal Veterinary Association to hold their annual world congress in Vancouver.^[2] Lake went on to serve as a board officer, vice-president and treasurer for that Association.

After several visits to friends who lived Kamloops, Lake and his wife, along with their three daughters, decided to move there.^[3] He got a teaching position at Thompson Rivers University's animal-health technology program beginning in 1997. He became active in the community, playing in the soccer league, coaching youth soccer^[4] and lobbying to ban performances by exotic animals within the city, like during a circus or rodeo.^[5] In 1999, he sought to be elected to the city council. During the campaign, he noted that he was in favour of installing residential water meters,^[6] a moratorium on new big-box stores until an impact assessment was completed, and he was opposed to using referendums to make tough decisions.^[7] With eight council seats in contention, Lake finished in ninth place with 5,400 votes^[8] and claimed $4,562 in election expenses.^[9] Lake complained afterwards, and sought legal advice, regarding illegal advertising by the third-place finisher, Brian Husband, who ran radio ads on election day.^[10] Lake continued to help organize the World Small Animal Veterinary Association's annual (2001) conference which he helped attract to Vancouver.^[11][12] He returned to Kamloops advocating that the city develop a modern conference centre.^[13]

Municipal politics

He sought election to the same city council in 2002, advocating for a new conference centre.^[14] He finished third with 9,477 votes^[15] and claimed $2,609 in election expenses.^[16] As a councillor he led the development and implementation of a vicious dog bylaw which allows the city to designate dogs which bite or threaten people without provocation as 'dangerous' and place restriction on their containment and public handling.^[17][18] He differed from the rest of council by resisting the $3-million commitment to build the Kamloops Wildlife Park,^[19] opposing the renaming of Overlanders Bridge to the Phil Gaglardi Bridge^[20] (which approved by the rest of council but later rescinded^[21]), and favouring higher parking fees in the downtown area.^[22] He took time in 2004 to work as Liberal John O'Fee's campaign manager in the federal election which they lost to Conservative Betty Hinton.^[23] In 2005 he was elected to the board of the Union of B.C. Municipalities,^[24] attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention in St. John's, Newfoundland, and visited Aichi, Japan as part of a cultural exchange with Kamloops's sister city.^[25]

With the incumbent mayor retiring, Lake sought to be elected as mayor in the November 2005 election. He faced two others: public relations worker Al McNair and crime-prevention officer Pete Backus. City debt emerged as a primary point of contention during the campaign, with Lake arguing that the debt is an investment in the community and was at a manageable level, and McNair arguing it was too high and uncontrollable.^[26] Lake won the election with an unexpectedly high number of votes (11,727)^[27] while spending $38,564.^[28] He identified airport expansion as his top priority.^[29] However, WestJet resisted flying to Kamloops by demanding guaranteed revenue^[30] and federal MP Betty Hinton and provincial MLA Kevin Krueger both saw highway upgrades as higher priorities.^[31] In 2006, Lake was appointed to the board of governors for B.C. Transit. Also in 2006, Lake opposed his council who voted in favour of sending a letter to the province requesting a ban on uranium exploration and mining^[32] and Lake sought reforms to the Agricultural Land Commission (via a motion to the Union of B.C. Municipalities) after they refused two Kamloops development applications.^[33] As a board member of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, Lake suggested the province should enable local governments (outside of Metro Vancouver) to levy a gasoline tax so that local public transit could be removed from property taxes.^[34] While Kamloops was struggling with a bylaw to ban cosmetic pesticides, Lake advocated for a province wide ban.^[35][36] Lake traveled to Japan and China in October 2007 promoting Kamloops (and resulted in Chinese speed skaters using facilities in Kamloops to train for the 2010 Winter Olympics),^[37] and to Sri Lanka in January 2008 as part of a volunteer organization re-building homes lost in the 2004 tsunami.^[38] Lake would return to Sri Lanka in January 2011 to continue his volunteer work.^[39]

Provincial politics

Ranching Task Force

In July 2008, Kamloops MLA Claude Richmond announced he would not seek re-election in the May 2009 provincial election. Consequently, Lake announced that he would not stand for re-election as mayor but would instead seek to replace Richmond.^[40] With MLA Kevin Krueger moving to the new Kamloops-South Thompson riding, Lake was unopposed for BC Liberal nomination in the Kamloops-North Thompson.^[41] The election was expected to be close but Lake ultimately defeated the NDP candidate Doug Brown, student April Snowe for the Green Party,^[42] Clearwater resident Wayne Russell of the Refederation Party, and the Work Less Party's Keston Broughton. Lake's BC Liberals won the election and formed a majority government under Premier Gordon Campbell. In the first two sessions of the 39th Parliament Lake was appointed to the Select Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and the Select Standing Committee on Health, however neither of those committees held any meetings. Premier Campbell did not include Lake in the cabinet but he was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Ranching Task Force under the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.^[43] The Ranching Task Force began its work in July to review the province's role in the ranching industry, an industry which had been facing setbacks such as declining cattle prices and fewer exports following a Bovine spongiform encephalopathy outbreak and a strengthen currency value (relative to the US dollar).^[44] The task force's final report and recommendations were sent to the Minister of Agriculture and Lands in November 2009.^[45]

Harmonized Sales Tax

Lake was also appointed as the convener the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives, which had not met in over a decade and was not expected to meet any time soon.^[46] However, Lake was forced to convene the committee after a petition against the provincial government's intentions to switch the sales tax system to the Harmonized Sales Tax system successfully collected the required 10% of voters in every riding.^[47] Lake was supportive of the new Harmonized Sales Tax,^[48] even though more people in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding signed the anti-HST petition than voted for Lake.^[47] Lake caused controversy in May 2010 when he misspoke saying that the Committee on Legislative Initiatives had the power to refuse the petition based on unclear wording^[49] and in August when he refused to accept the petition as delivered by the proponents (Lake would only accept it from the Chief Electoral Officer who was holding it pending the resolution of a court challenge by pro-HST consortium).^[50] The petition was forwarded to the committee in September and the committee met twice to decide whether to forward the petition to the legislative assembly or call a provincial referendum on the question.^[51] At the same time as the HST petition was circulating, the Fight HST group was soliciting input on whether to launch a recall campaign against Lake. In June 2010, Lake was included on their list of potential recall candidates which also included 23 other BC Liberal MLAs.^[52] Lake aggressively responded to the recall challenge by calling its organizer a "bully" and "petulant child"^[53] and issuing news releases quoting derogatory comments made by others involved in the Fight HST group.^[54] The recall campaign occurred in February–March 2011; the group had 60 days to collect signatures of 40% of the 38,246 voters but were only able to collect 26% (10,087 signatures).^[55] Afterwards, the Chief Electoral Officer offered his suggestions for reform of the recall legislation, to which Lake emphasized the ability of organizers to destroy petitions should be amended as he was unable to verify the number of signatures claimed by the organizers.^[56] Even though Elections BC does not verify failed Recall Petitions. Lake was a member of the Special Committee to Appoint a Chief Electoral Officer, which met in May 2011, but upon advice from the Conflict of Interest Commissioner, Lake withdrew due to his involvement with the Select Standing Committee on Legislative Initiatives, the referendum, and the recall campaign.^[57]

Sled Dog Task Force

Premier Campbell's October 2010 cabinet shuffle created for Lake the role of Parliamentary Secretary for Health Promotion as his old position as Parliamentary Secretary for the Ranching Task Force was eliminated.^[58] Following the revelation of the Whistler sled dog cull, Campbell appointed Lake to head the Sled Dog Task Force, consisting of two other people (representative from the Union of BC Municipalities and the BC SPCA) to review the provincial government's role in the dog sledding industry and the responses made by agencies to the cull.^[59] The task force was given until March 25 to provide a report and recommendations to the Ministry of Agriculture, however there were complications as the delays occurred as an unexpected volume of public input from around the world had to be considered^[60] and the criminal RCMP investigation made key evidence and witnesses unavailable.^[61] All the recommendations from the task force were eventually enacted in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act, 2011.^[62]

Minister of Environment

After Campbell announced his resignation the BC Liberal Party leadership election began, the winner of which would become premier. In mid-December 2010 Lake endorsed George Abbott, citing Abbott's "collaborative and engaging style to governing"^[63] and his profile as a fellow Interior and rural MLA.^[64] Christy Clark would eventually win the leadership race. When the 39th Parliament resumed with a third session and Clark as premier, she promoted Lake to Minister of Environment and made him the deputy government house leader.^[65] Clark and Lake committed to continue with the carbon tax^[66] and a carbon neutral public service,^[67] but backed away from the province's legislated greenhouse gas reduction targets.^[68] The issue about BC's participation in the Western Climate Initiative was reviewed by the entire cabinet,^[69] who decided to continue with WCI's planned cap-and-trade system.^[70] An emphasis in the Ministry of Environment was placed on BC Parks with announcements by Clark and Lake on the elimination of parking fees at parks,^[71] a one-year youth passport program,^[72] new online tools to facilitate park usage,^[72] a park bench sponsorship program,^[73] and a $500,000 program to celebrate B.C. Parks' 100th-anniversary.^[71] Lake came under criticism for not publicly releasing the report and recommendations of the Species at Risk Task Force.^[74] To compensate for the slow action on the task force, the opposition environment critic Rob Fleming re-introduced his own Species at Risk Protection Act in June 2011.^[74] Lake released the task force report in July for a public comment period.^[75] As the Minister of Environment, Lake had to defend the Environmental Assessment Office following a review by the Auditor General who identified short-comings^[76] and continued criticism regarding the rigorousness of the environmental review process as a proposed copper-gold mine, which was approved by Lake's predecessor, was refused by the federal government.^[77] Lake came under criticism from fellow BC Liberal MLAs John Les, John van Dongen, and Donna Barnett after Lake approved Metro Vancouver's waste-management plan which included proposals to incinerate garbage; Les and van Dongen felt the plan would significantly lower air quality in their Fraser Valley ridings and Barnett advocated for continuing the hauling of garbage to the Cache Creek landfill in her riding.^[78][79]

Election history

B.C. General Election 2009: Kamloops-North Thompson
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Terry Lake	9,830	47%	n/a	$108,572
	New Democratic	Doug Brown	9,320	45%	n/a	$84,848
	Green	April Snowe	1,418	7%	n/a	$1,010
	Refederation	Wayne Russell	251	1%	n/a	$260
	Work Less	Keston Broughton	124	0.6%	n/a	$550
Total Valid Votes			20,943	100%
Total Rejected Ballots			112	0.5%
Turnout			21,055	55%

References

1. "The education of Terry Lake". Kamloops This Week. November 23, 2005. p. 1.
2. Ford, Ashley (May 28, 1997). "City's top convention hosts honored". The Province (Vancouver). p. 34.
3. Young, Michele (November 5, 2005). "The Three who would be Mayor: Meet the men looking for your vote on election day". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
4. "Comments from the candidates". Kamloops Daily News. November 10, 1999. p. 8.
5. "Rodeo fear raised". The Province (Vancouver). August 12, 1999. p. 16.
6. Fortems, Cam (October 7, 1999). "Four new names for city council as nominations open". Kamloops Daily News. p. 3.
7. "Council candidate seeks moratorium on big-box stores". Kamloops Daily News. October 30, 1999. p. 9.
8. "How they fared: Complete results from key B.C. communities". The Province (Vancouver). November 22, 1999. p. 12.
9. Young, Michele (March 21, 2000). "Election spending needs cap – mayor". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
10. Fortems, Cam (December 16, 1999). "Losing council candidate presses for action against ad company". Kamloops Daily News. p. 3.
11. Higgins, Michael (August 9, 2001). "Veterinarians call for ban on 'cosmetic' dog surgeries". National Post. p. 9.
12. "Kamloops vets attending international conference". Kamloops Daily News. August 10, 2001. p. 5.
13. Muir, Jennifer (August 21, 2001). "Success of conference convinces vet we need convention center". Kamloops Daily News.
14. "Lake announces he'll take another shot at council seat". Kamloops Daily News. September 10, 2002. p. 3.
15. Young, Michele (November 18, 2002). "Voters stick with status quo: All but one incumbent returned in 'solid vote of confidence'". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
16. Koopmans, Robert (March 18, 2003). "Mayoralty costs $20,000 less on second try". Kamloops Daily News. p. 3.
17. "Aggressive dog bylaw in the works". Kamloops Daily News. January 7, 2004. p. 4.
18. "City puts muzzle on dangerous dogs". Kamloops Daily News. June 30, 2004. p. 5.
19. Koopmans, Robert (April 2, 2003). "Council agrees to wildlife park deal". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
20. Young, Michele (May 26, 2005). "Mayor softens stance on bridge". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
21. Young, Michele (May 28, 2005). "Council to rescind new name for bridge". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
22. "Meter rates stay the same as city backs off increases". Kamloops Daily News. February 11, 2004. p. 3.
23. Fortems, Cam (June 29, 2004). "Councillors look to meeting with MP". Kamloops Daily News. p. 5.
24. "Lake wins at-large spot on municipalities board". Kamloops Daily News. October 1, 2005. p. 5.
25. Young, Michele (June 21, 2005). "Council members set for trip to Japan: Some just back from St. John's". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
26. "Debt debate: Investment or burden?". Kamloops This Week. November 4, 2005. p. 1.
27. "Kamloops Election Results". Kamloops This Week. November 19, 2005. p. 1.
28. Young, Michele (March 21, 2006). "Candidate McNair rings up $51,217". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
29. "City hall gets makeover". Kamloops This Week. November 23, 2005. p. 5.
30. Fortems, Cam (July 19, 2006). "WestJet's price too high for now". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
31. "Hinton questions airport 'priority'". Kamloops This Week. February 3, 2006. p. 1.
32. "Council backs uranium motion". Kamloops This Week. August 20, 2006. p. 14.
33. "Mayor wants review of ALC following dual denials". Kamloops This Week. August 2, 2006. p. 3.
34. Fortems, Cam (February 23, 2007). "Mayor proposes city gasoline tax". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1.
35. Young, Michele (April 24, 2008). "Mayor urges B.C. cosmetic pesticide ban". Kamloops Daily News. p. 4.
36. Young, Michele (September 26, 2008). "City resolution on cosmetic pesticides gets strong support". Kamloops Daily News. p. 5.
37. "Chinese skaters train in Kamloops". The Province (Vancouver). June 1, 2008. p. 18.
38. "Mayor and soccer balls headed for Sri Lanka project". Kamloops Daily News. January 8, 2008. p. 3.
39. Fortems, Cam (January 12, 2011). "Lake out of country for part of recall fight". Kamloops Daily News. p. 3.
40. Harrison, Jim (July 19, 2008). "Terry Lake will indeed run provincially". Kamloops This Week. p. 13.
41. Deutsch, Jeremy (December 16, 2008). "Lake, Krueger officially ready to run". Kamloops This Week. p. 11.
42. "Green Party going with female team provincially". Kamloops Daily News. February 28, 2009. p. 3.
43. Fletcher, Tom (June 10, 2009). "Krueger gets tourism; Lake reports to ag minister". Kamloops This Week. p. 1.
44. Morton, Brian (July 2, 2009). "Province appoints panel to help B.C.'s ailing cattle industry". The Vancouver Sun. p. C1.
45. Youds, Mike (November 5, 2009). "Ranching outlook bleak as task force wraps up sessions". Kamloops Daily News. p. 4.
46. Hunter, Justine (August 23, 2010). "Fate of B.C.'s HST with group who never expected to meet". The Globe and Mail. p. 1.
47. Hunter, Justine (June 10, 2010). "Popular anti-HST petition ready a month early". The Globe and Mail. p. 4.
48. Lake, Terry (April 22, 2010). "Proposed harmonized sales tax will strengthen our province". Kamloops Daily News. p. 6.
49. Koopmans, Robert (May 28, 2010). "MLA backtracks on HST petition process". Kamloops Daily News. p. 1. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
50. Koopmans, Robert (August 14, 2010). "Lake won't accept anti-HST petition; 'The Law Is Clear,' MLA Says". Kamloops Daily News. p. 3. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
51. "B.C. voters have fate of HST in their hands: Unpopular tax will be subject of referendum set for next September". Toronto Star. September 14, 2010. p. 3.
52. Smyth, Michael (June 24, 2010). "From anti-HST petition to 'hit list'; Targeting 24 Liberal MLAs for recall campaigns is new tactic for pressuring Campbell to back down". The Province (Vancouver). p. 6.
53. Keller, James (September 20, 2010). "'Get stuffed,' MLA target of HST recall tells campaign organizer Vander Zalm". Toronto Star. p. 3. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
54. "Two more anti-HST leader called out". Edmonton Journal. September 29, 2010. p. 8. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
55. Deutsch, Jeremy (April 4, 2011). "Recall bid against MLA Lake fails in Kamloops-North Thompson". Kamloops This Week. p. 5. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
56. Koopmans, Robert (June 18, 2011). "Recall changes are for accountability: Lake". Kamloops Daily News. p. 4.
57. Fortems, Cam (January 13, 2011). "MLA Lake seeks advice on recall conflict; Cautious over conflict-of-interest issue". Kamloops Daily News. p. 5.
58. "Ranching position victim of shuffle". Kamloops Daily News. October 28, 2010. p. 3. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
59. "Lake to head probe into sled-dog killings". Kamloops This Week. February 2, 2011. p. 1. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
60. "Emails from around the globe flood B.C. task force examining sled dog slaughter". The Canadian Press. February 25, 2011.
61. "Criminal probe hampers sled dog cull investigation". Kamloops Daily News. March 4, 2011. p. 5.
62. Pemberton, Kim (April 6, 2011). "B.C. toughens animal cruelty laws". Edmonton Journal. p. 7. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
63. Deutsch, Jeremy (December 16, 2010). "MLA Terry Lake backs George Abbott". Kamloops This Week. p. 1.
64. Fortems, Cam (December 18, 2010). "MLA Terry Lake throws his support behind Abbott". Kamloops Daily News. p. 3.
65. "Lake new environment minister, Krueger out of cabinet". Kamloops This Week. March 14, 2011. p. 1. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
66. Penner, Derrick (April 14, 2011). "B.C. has become straggler in battle against greenhouse gases". The Vancouver Sun. p. 1. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
67. Pynn, Larry (July 8, 2011). "Public sector's carbon offsets subsidize B.C.'s big businesses". The Vancouver Sun. p. 6. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
68. Hamilton, Gordon (January 7, 2012). "Development trumps emission targets, minister says". The Vancouver Sun. p. 6. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
69. Hamilton, Gordon (April 19, 2011). "Carbon credits could be a billion-dollar export industry". The Vancouver Sun. p. C1. Retrieved August 18, 2011.
70. MacLeod, Andrew (April 27, 2011). "BC will keep cap and trade schedule says minister". The Tyee. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
71. Cassidy, Olivier (May 4, 2011). "Parks' pay-to-park plan axed". The Province (Vancouver). p. 11. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
72. Nielsen, Mark (May 24, 2011). "BC Parks launches passport to adventure". Prince George Citizen. p. 3. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
73. "B.C. Parks introduces park bench sponsorship program". The Times (Clearwater, British Columbia). June 20, 2011. p. 2. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
74. Shaw, Rob (June 2, 2011). "Languishing species report earns tongue lashing from NDP". Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia). p. 3. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
75. Lavoie, Judith (July 5, 2011). "Public to get say on species protection". Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia). p. 3. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
76. Stueck, Wendy (July 8, 2011). "Auditor slams watchdog's lack of oversight". The Globe and Mail. p. 4.
77. Penner, Derrick (July 21, 2011). "Improve process for environmental assessments". The Vancouver Sun. p. C8.
78. Fowlie, Jonathan (July 27, 2011). "Two Liberal MLAs roast party's plan". The Vancouver Sun. p. 4.
79. Hewlett, Jason (August 17, 2011). "Third MLA supports Cache Creek landfill". Kamloops Daily News. p. 4.

External links

• Legislative Assembly of British Columbia - Terry Lake
• Member of the Legislative Assembly - Terry Lake (Kamloops-North Thompson)
• BC Liberal - Terry Lake (Kamloops-North Thompson)