Terry Lake

Terry Lake is a former Canadian politician, at the municipal and provincial levels, and veterinarian.

Lake was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and a member of the BC Liberal Party.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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 and lobbying to ban performances by exotic animals within the city, like during a circus or rodeo.

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, a moratorium on new big-box stores until an impact assessment was completed, and he was opposed to using referendums to make tough decisions.

With eight council seats in contention, Lake finished in ninth place with 5,400 votes and claimed $4,562 in election expenses.

Lake complained afterwards, and sought legal advice, regarding illegal advertising by the third-place finisher, Brian Husband, who ran radio ads on election day.

Lake continued to help organize the World Small Animal Veterinary Association's annual (2001) conference which he helped attract to Vancouver.

He returned to Kamloops advocating that the city develop a modern conference centre.

He sought election to the same city council in 2002, advocating for a new conference centre.

He finished third with 9,477 votes and claimed $2,609 in election expenses.

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.

He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the riding of Kamloops-North Thompson in the 2009 provincial election.

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 required 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.

Lake announced September 1, 2016 that he would not seek re-election in 2017.

On 21 May 2019, Lake was acclaimed as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in the riding of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo for the 2019 Canadian federal election.

He was not successful in the election.

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.