Fonds F003 - Vivienne Poy fonds

Vivienne Poy was born Vivienne May LEE on May 15, 1941 in Hong Kong, to mother Esther Yewpick WONG and father Richard Charles LEE Ming Chak, an Oxford-educated civil engineer. Her father took over the family’s businesses in Hong Kong after his father’s (Hysan LEE’s) assassination in 1928 in the midst of a dispute with the Macao’s government over the opium trade. With Vivienne as an infant, the Lee family fled to mainland China as refugees from the Japanese occupation of the British colony, returning to Hong Kong at the end of the war.

Vivienne completed schooling in Hong Kong and England before moving to Montreal in 1959 to study at McGill University, graduating with an honours Bachelor's degree in history. She later completed Master's and PhD degrees in history at the University of Toronto.

At McGill, she met Neville Poy, a fellow Hong Kong native and family friend who would become a prominent burn specialist and plastic surgeon. (His sister is Adrienne Clarkson, the former broadcaster who served as Canada’s 26th Governor General from 1999 to 2005.) They wed in 1962, settling in Toronto in 1967 where they raised three children together (Ashley, Carter and Justin).

An interest in fashion design led Vivienne to complete a diploma in fashion arts (knitwear design) at Seneca College in 1981. That same year, she embarked on a career in fashion design, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, as President of Vivienne Poy Enterprises Ltd. and Designer of Vivienne Poy Mode, until winding down the business in 1995.

In 1998, she was named to the Senate by Prime Minister Jean Chretien, sitting with the Liberal caucus while representing Toronto as one of Ontario’s 24 senators. Her appointment was significant; she was the first Canadian of Asian descent to be appointed to the Senate of Canada and the first person of Chinese ancestry to serve in the Upper House of the Canadian Parliament. Vivienne served as senator until 2012, working to advance issues related to gender equality, multiculturalism, immigration and human rights. She is best known for her work to have the month of May designated as Asian Heritage Month; sponsor the Famous Five monuments in Calgary and Ottawa commemorating the landmark Persons Case; and lay the groundwork to make the lyrics of Canada’s national anthem more inclusive.

While a senator, Vivienne completed her doctoral studies at the University of Toronto in 2003, and served as the institution’s chancellor from 2003 to 2006. She is an accomplished author and publisher of histories and biographies of her father, the Lee family, and the Poy family, among other titles.  In 2013, she published Passage to Promise Land: Voices of Chinese Immigrant Women to Canada which expanded upon her PhD dissertation and its interviews. She has served as a patron and advisor to countless charities and organizations, particularly related to academia, and holds numerous honorary degrees.

Since 1980, Vivienne has served as chairman of the family business, Lee Tak Wai Holdings Limited, and president of the Lee Tak Wai Foundation and Calyan Publishing. She is a trustee of the Hong Kong-based Drs. Richard Charles and Esther Yewpick Lee Charitable Foundation, which funds scholarships and university research chairs in Asian studies.