|
|
|
|
Joyce Fairbairn
-
Liberal Party of Canada
|
Senator Joyce Fairbairn was born and raised in Lethbridge, Alberta. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1960 and received a Bachelor of Journalism degree from Carleton University in 1961.
She began a career in journalism as a student while working summers at the Lethbridge Herald and, following university, joined the news staff of the Ottawa Journal in 1961. The following year she joined the bureau of United Press International in the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa and in 1964, went to the Parliamentary Bureau of F.P. Publications. There she reported for years for the Winnipeg Free Press, the Calgary Albertan, the Lethbridge Herald, the Vancouver Sun, the Victoria Times and the Ottawa Journal.
In 1970, she became Legislative Assistant to Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and served as his senior legislative advisor for fourteen years. She was also Communications Coordinator in the Minister’s Office from 1981-1983.
On June 29, 1984, she was appointed to the Senate for the Province of Alberta (Lethbridge). She has served on several committees, including the Special Senate Committee on Youth, and the Senate Standing Committees on Transportation and Communications, Legal & Constitutional Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Agriculture and Forestry. She is a founding member of the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples. Chair of the Special Senate Committee on the Subject Matter of Bill C-36, Anti-terrorism Legislation (2001).
On July 21, 1990, she was inducted into the Kainai Chieftainship of the Blood Nation and given the name Morning Bird Woman. In September, 2003, she was named President of the Chieftainship She has served on the Senate of the University of Lethbridge. She serves as Honorary Colonel of the 18th Air Defence Regiment, RCA.
From 1984-1991, she was Vice-Chair of the National Liberal Caucus and Vice-Chair of the Western and Northern Liberal Caucus. In June 1991, Senator Fairbairn was appointed Co-Chair of the National Campaign Committee of the National Campaign.
On November 4, 1993, Senator Fairbairn was appointed to the Privy Council and was the first woman to be named Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister with Special Responsibility for Literacy. She served in this capacity until June 10, 1997. Senator Fairbairn continues to be an active advocate for the cause of literacy, initiating national debate in the Senate on Literacy in Canada in March 1987. On September 8, 1997 she was appointed Special Advisor on Literacy to the Minister of Human Resources Development Canada.
From 1999 to 2003 Senator Fairbairn served as Chair for the “Friends of the Paralympics”, a group she founded to raise money for the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and in 2003 she became Chair of the Canadian Paralympic Foundation.
Senator Fairbairn was married to Michael Gillan (dec.).
Parliamentary Address: The Senate of Canada, Ottawa, Ont. KlA 0A4.
E-mail Address: fairbj@sen.parl.gc.ca
