Joyce Fairbairn (born November 6 1936) is a Canadian Senator and the first woman to serve as Leader of the Government in the Senate.
Fairburn worked as a journalist in the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa before hired as legislative assistant to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1970. In 1981 she became Communications Co-ordinator in the Prime Minister's Office. On June 29 1984, just prior to leaving office, Trudeau appointed her as a Liberal Senator for Alberta, her home province.
She has also had various positions in the Liberal Party serving as Vice-Chair of the National and Western Liberal Caucus from 1984 to 1990 and as Co-Chair of the Liberal Party of Canada Election Readiness Committee in 1991. When the Liberals returned to power after the 1993 Canadian election, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Fairbairn to the Canadian Cabinet as Government Leader in the Senate and Minister with special responsibility for Literacy. She served in Cabinet until 1997 but remains active in the Senate.
