Joyce Fairbairn
Senator and Literacy Advocate
| Degrees: | BJ ’61 |
50 years at Parliament Hill.
When Joyce Fairbairn retired from the Senate in 2013, she had worked on Parliament Hill for 50 years. Initially a reporter in the press gallery, after eight years she became legislative assistant, then communications coordinator, for Pierre Trudeau. As Liberal senator, Fairbairn championed literacy programs and campaigns, advocated for the Paralympics, and was the first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate.