Former Liberal Senator Joyce Fairbain from Alberta passed away at the age of 82 earlier this week.
The Canadian Government announced that all flags at government buildings and establishments in Lethbridge would be lowered to half mass today.
A former journalist, Fairbain was hired by Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1970 to serve as a legislative assistant, before becoming a Communication Coordinator for the Prime Minister of Office in 1981.
Fairbain was one of the patronage appointments that caused John Turner damage during the 1984 election. During the 1984 leadership election leaders debate, then PC leader Brian Mulroney and then newly appointed Prime Minister John Turner got into a spat over the last minute patronage appointments Prime Minister Trudeau had controversially done with flurry of senators, judges, and executives on various governmental and crown corporation boards.
During the debate, Turner argued that he had no option to continue with the appointment, in which Mulroney famously replied, "You had an option, sir. You could have said, 'I am not going to do it. This is wrong for Canada, and I am not going to ask Canadians to pay the price.' You had an option, sir — to say 'no' — and you chose to say 'yes' to the old attitudes and the old stories of the Liberal Party. That sir, if I may say respectfully, that is not good enough for Canadians."
Fairbain joined cabinet in 1993, as leader of the government in the Senate.
The former Liberal Senator resigned from her seat in 2013 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
She retired to Lethbridge after her resignation from Office.