George Ho Lem

George Ho Lem Sr. (何榮禧) (June 15, 1918 – July 9, 2005) was a politician, business man and community leader from Alberta, Canada.

Early life

George was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1918. George's mother Mary Ho Lem was the first recorded female Chinese resident of Calgary.

Business career

George was a self made business man. He started a successful dry cleaning business and was also a successful restaurateur. George was also a horse breeder, winning two Alberta Derbies and was once declared thoroughbred breeder of the year.

Community service

During his lifetime George was extremely active in the community, with involvement in a wide range of organizations. He served the as a director of Stampede Park for 18 years, and was granted a lifetime membership as an honorary director.

George also served as president of the Calgary Junior Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the board for 16 years of the Calgary Auxiliary Hospital. Ho Lem was a founding director of the Metropolitan Calgary Foundation.

George was also a Canadian Football League fan; he was a long-standing member of the Calgary Stampeders Football Booster Club. His interest in sports led him to Co-chair the 1978 Commonwealth Games held in Edmonton.

George was also very active in the Calgary Chinese community. A few of the organizations he was involved with were the Sien Lok Society, the Oi Kwan Society, the Calgary Chinatown Development Foundation, the Calgary multicultural society. George served as founder, president of chairman of most of these groups.

Municipal politics

George launched his political career, by winning election in 1959 as a City of Calgary alderman. In the 1959 City Council elections he polled the most votes of the 16 candidates. George was the second person of Chinese descent in Canada to win a municipal election.

George was re-elected to council for a second term in 1962. In total he served six years as a city alderman.

During the 1969 Calgary mayoral race, he served as campaign manager for Calgary mayor Rod Sykes helping him win his first term as mayor.

Provincial politics

George was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1971 Alberta general election for Social Credit in the Calgary McCall electoral district. He became the first person of Chinese descent elected to the Alberta Legislature.

In the 1975 Alberta general election after serving only one term with the opposition George was badly defeated by Progressive Conservative Andrew Little.

During his term in the Assembly, he served on the Law and Regulations, Privileges and Elections, Standing Orders and Printing, and Public Affairs committees. He also served on the Select Special Committee on Foreign Investment.

George briefly attempted a run at federal politics, running for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 1980 Canadian Federal Election. He came in second in Calgary Centre to Progressive Conservative Harvie Andre.

The Legislative Assembly of Alberta paid special tribute to George's accomplishments on November 20, 2001

He died on July 9, 2005.

External links

• George Ho Lem guest introduction and tribute, Alberta Legislative Assembly Hansard November 20, 2001
• Death Notice George Ho Lem, Alberta Legislative Assembly Hansard
• City of Calgary Aldermanic gallery, George Ho Lem page 146