Joseph A. Day (born January 24, 1945 in Saint John, New Brunswick) is a Canadian engineer, lawyer and politician. He has been a Canadian Senator since October 4, 2001.
A Liberal, Day entered politics rather suddenly when, in 1978, a seat opened in his native New Brunswick. Day returned from his practice of law in Ottawa, Ontario to contest the by-election but was defeated in what had long been a Conservative stronghold. He would face the same electorate three times in two years due to the rapid succession of general elections that came in May 1979 and February 1980. Though he was defeated in all three attempts he did better than his recent Liberal predecessors and improved his margin on each attempt.
In 1982 he ran for leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party but was narrowly defeated on the final ballot by Doug Young. The leadership race was very divisive and the Liberals saw their worst defeat in recent history in the 1982 provincial election. Day, who offered for MLA in a Saint John riding, was defeated in his fifth contest in five years.
Ironically, Day's wife, Georgie Day was elected to the legislature, on her first attempt in electoral politics, in 1991 and was re-elected in 1995. While in the legislature, she served in the cabinets of Frank McKenna, Ray Frenette and Camille Thériault.
Day returned to active politics upon his appointment to the Senate in 2001. He has been active on issues of veterans' affairs and media concentration. Still a young man, Day will be a Senator until 2020 should he fill his full term.
