Introduction
Vivienne Poy (born Vivienne Lee; Chinese: 利德蕙; pinyin: Lì Déhuì; Jyutping: Lei6 Dak1-Wai6; Cantonese Yale: Leih Dāk-Waih on May 15, 1941) is a Canadian politician. She was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1998.
Life
Poy was born in Hong Kong in 1941. She came to Canada as a student in 1959. She is the first Canadian senator of Asian ancestry. She graduated from St. Paul's Co-educational College, McGill University, Seneca College and the University of Toronto.
For 14 years, Poy served as president of Vivienne Poy Mode, a fashion design company that she founded in 1981. She was selected as Chancellor of the University of Toronto in December 2002.
Poy is the daughter of Richard Charles Lee (利銘澤; Cantonese: Lee Ming-Chak, Pinyin: Lì Míngzé), and granddaughter of the famous Hysan Lee, who was tied to the Hong Kong opium refinery business and land development in the early 1900s, and Esther Yiu Pik Huang (黃瑤璧; Cantonese: Lee Yiu-Pik, Pinyin: Huáng Yáobì). Vivienne Poy is also the sister-in-law of Adrienne Clarkson, who was Governor General of Canada from 1999 to 2005. Vivienne Poy's husband Dr. Neville Poy, a retired plastic surgeon, is Clarkson's brother.