Alan Lowe
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Alan Lowe (born July 26, 1961) is the 50th mayor of Victoria, British Columbia (1999-current).
He is one of only a handful of mayors of Victoria who were actually born and raised in the city, and was the first mayor of Asian heritage to be elected. At 38 years old he was also one of the youngest to be elected mayor.
He has a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies (1982) from the University of Manitoba and a Master's Degree in Architecture from the University of Oregon (1985).
His second term in office has been haunted by lingering doubts about a new arena originally promised by his predecessor Bob Cross and only delivered ten years later in 2005. However, most of these doubts have been expressed by the mayor's left-wing opponents, especially those on the editorial board of local weekly publication Monday Magazine. Since construction started on this arena, much controversy has ensued (mostly over the delays and changes to the previous name of "Memorial Arena").
Lowe handily won the 2002 election beating his only real opponent Ben Isitt who was a 24-year-old University of Victoria master's student. However, Ben Isitt did manage to surprise many observers by gaining more votes than any second place mayoralty candidate in the City of Victoria's history and more than several winning mayors.