Elaine McCoy

Elaine Jean McCoy QC (March 7, 1946 – December 29, 2020) was a Canadian politician from Alberta. She was a member of the Senate of Canada.

The Honourable
Elaine McCoy
QC
McCoy in 2010
McCoy in 2010
Facilitator of the
Independent Senators Group
In office
September 27, 2016 – September 25, 2017
DeputyNone[lower-alpha 1]
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byYuen Pau Woo
Senator for Alberta
In office
March 24, 2005 – December 29, 2020
Nominated byPaul Martin
Appointed byAdrienne Clarkson
MLA for Calgary-West
In office
1986–1993
Preceded byPeter Lougheed
Succeeded byDanny Dalla-Longa
Personal details
Born(1946-03-07)March 7, 1946
Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
DiedDecember 29, 2020(2020-12-29) (aged 74)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political partyCanadian Senators Group (2019–2020)
Other political
affiliations		Independent Senators Group (2016–2019)
Independent Progressive Conservative (2013–2016)
Progressive Conservative (2005–2013)
Alberta PC (until 1993)
Alma materUniversity of Alberta

In 2005, McCoy was appointed to the Senate. She designated herself a member of the Progressive Conservative Party despite its dissolution two years prior; following the retirement of Lowell Murray in 2011, she was the last remaining member of the Senate to sit as a Progressive Conservative. In 2016, she joined the Independent Senators Group (ISG) and served as its initial interim facilitator. In 2019, she left the ISG and joined the Canadian Senators Group.

McCoy was previously the Alberta PC MLA for Calgary-West from 1986 to 1993. During this time, she served as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Minister responsible for Women's Issues and Minister of Labour under Premier Don Getty.

Early life and education

Born in Brandon, Manitoba, Elaine Jean McCoy was the daughter of John Frederick and Jean Stewart (Hope) McCoy.[1] She was an alumna of the University of Alberta, and held an LLB (1969) and Bachelor of Arts in English (1968).[2]

Before entering provincial politics, McCoy worked as senior legal counsel for the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and as counsel for TransAlta Utilities Corporation.[2]

Alberta politics

From 1986 to 1993, McCoy was the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Calgary-West in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. She succeeded Peter Lougheed in the riding, whom she had previously campaigned with and who had suggested she run in the constituency after he retired.[3] McCoy expected to be a backbencher, as she was not well-connected within the party, and was surprised to be immediately appointed to the Executive Council of Alberta.[3] She was named Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs and Minister responsible for Women's Issues[4][5] by Premier Don Getty. As Minister, McCoy was responsible for creating the Insurance Council of Alberta, restructuring the Alberta Securities Commission, and for introducing a variety of new policies to protect consumers. She was also involved in developing foreign credentials recognition for immigrant professionals.[6]

In 1989, McCoy was appointed Alberta's Minister of Labour and Minister responsible for Human Rights, in which portfolio she was responsible for Alberta's personnel administration office. She set up an Alberta Human Rights Commission inquiry into the Aryan Nations which was responsible for investigating and eliminating supremacist activity in the province.[2] McCoy also shed light on violence against women and spearheaded the Lake Louise Declaration,[6] which was Alberta's first action plan designed to fight violence against women, and the first all-Canada declaration on the subject.[7]

Leadership candidate

When Getty retired in 1992, McCoy ran in the 1992 Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election to succeed him.[8][9][10] She placed 8th in a field of nine and was eliminated on the first ballot; the contest was won by Ralph Klein. Klein did not appoint her to his cabinet, and she did not run for re-election in 1993.[11]

Right-to-work joint review committee

In 1995, McCoy was asked by the government of Alberta to chair a joint review committee (JRC) into whether or not right-to-work (RTW) legislation would be beneficial to the province. The committee was formed following a motion debated on March, and announced in April 1995.[12] It delivered its unanimous report in November of the same year. It received 225 written submissions from Albertans on the issue.[13] The JRC ultimately did not recommend RTW legislation for Alberta, as it found no evidence of economic advantage to it.[14][15]

Senate of Canada
McCoy speaks with former prime minister Joe Clark, March 2010.
McCoy speaks with former prime minister Joe Clark, March 2010.

McCoy was appointed to the Senate by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Paul Martin, on March 24, 2005.[16][17] She represented Alberta as a member of the Canadian Senators Group.[18]

Initially a member of the Progressive Conservative caucus, a rump caucus of Tory senators who had refused to join the new Conservative Party of Canada in 2003, McCoy was ultimately the last Progressive Conservative in the chamber following the retirement of Senator Lowell Murray in 2011.[19] She changed her designation to Independent PC in 2013 and then to non-affiliated in 2016, following the decision by the government of Justin Trudeau to make the Senate a non-partisan institution and appoint independent senators. In September 2016, she and 14 other non-affiliated senators formed the Independent Senators Group[20] to advocate for the rights of non-affiliated senators as the upper house was still organized around partisan lines resulting in non-affiliated senators being underrepresented on committees and not receiving the funding given to party caucuses. McCoy was elected facilitator of the new group for the 2016–2017 parliamentary term.[21][22] In December 2016, the Senate agreed to recognize the ISG and granted it funding, and also agreed that non-affiliated senators would be appointed to Senate committees in numbers proportionate to their numbers in the Senate.[23][24]

On November 4, 2019, she joined the Canadian Senators Group.[25]

After being appointed to the Senate, McCoy was an influential voice for the role of the individual senator,[26] for Senate reform,[27][28][29] for an inclusive federation and the role of Alberta in Canada. McCoy was one of the first members of the Senate of Canada to blog and tweet on her experiences in Ottawa and the political issues of the day.[8] A feature article on McCoy in Maclean's called her a "symbol of defiance" as one of only two Progressive Conservative senators then remaining in federal politics and someone who "defines herself as socially progressive and fiscally conservative".[8]

Personal life

McCoy was married to Miles Patterson, a lawyer.[30] She died on December 29, 2020, in Ottawa.[20]

Notes
  1. McCoy had no deputy during her term, as the deputy facilitator is elected by the caucus. McCoy was the first facilitator on an interim basis, and was not elected. Thus, no deputy facilitator was in office.

References
  1. Sleeman, Elizabeth, ed. (December 30, 2001). The International Who's Who of Women 2002. Europa Publications. pp. 346–347. ISBN 9781857431223.
  2. Smith, Alanna (December 30, 2020). "Alberta Sen. Elaine McCoy remembered as 'energetic advocate of Alberta's interests'". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  3. Smith, Dale (September 18, 2012). "Knockin' on doors with Peter Lougheed". Maclean's.
  4. Harder 2003, p. 107.
  5. Cavanaugh & Warne 1993, p. 110.
  6. "Elaine McCoy, longtime Alberta senator and former cabinet minister, has died". CBC News. December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  7. Trimble 1992, p. 237.
  8. Wherry, Aaron (February 9, 2010). "And then there were two". Maclean's. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  9. Lisac, Mark (September 2, 2006). "Charm trumped charm school in 1992 leadership race". Edmonton Journal. p. A17. ProQuest 253373557.
  10. "The Candidates / A PROFILE: Elaine McCoy". Calgary Herald. November 17, 1992. p. A7. ProQuest 2466464094.
  11. "CBC My Region - Calgary-West". CBC News. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
  12. "Right-to-work". Alberta Teachers Association. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  13. Foster, Jason (2012). "Revolution, Retrenchment, and the New Normal: The 1990s and Beyond". In Finkel, Alvin (ed.). Working People in Alberta: A History. Athabasca University Press; Canadian Committee on Labour History. ISBN 978-1-926836-59-1. OCLC 780250635.
  14. Parkes, Debra (2010). "The Rand Formula Revisited: Union Security in the Charter Era". Manitoba Law Journal. 34 (1): 239. 2010 CanLIIDocs 235.
  15. Sheremata, Davis (December 18, 1995). "Right-to-work gets a pink slip". Alberta Report. 23 (1): 15. EBSCOhost 9601237686. A provincial committee headed up by former Conservative labour minister and Calgary MLA Elaine McCoy recommended the government not introduce right-to-work (RTW) legislation. "RTW legislation does not...create a competitive advantage," the committee's report states. "By itself, such legislation has little impact on wage and income levels...The rate of unemployment is unaffected by RTW legislation." As a result, union membership and dues will remain compulsory in Alberta's organized job-sites.
  16. "Senator Elaine McCoy". Senate of Canada. October 19, 2016. Archived from the original on February 17, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  17. "Elaine McCoy - Progressive Conservative". Parliament of Canada. Archived from the original on January 23, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  18. Furey, George (December 29, 2020). "The Passing of the Honourable Elaine McCoy". Senate of Canada. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  19. Fekete, Jason (August 7, 2012). "Last Progressive Conservative senator laments the disappearance of her party's influence". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  20. "Former Alberta cabinet minister turned Independent senator Elaine McCoy dies". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  21. Harris, Kathleen (September 28, 2016). "Patrick Brazeau returns to Senate after 3-year legal saga". CBC News. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  22. Code, Jillian (December 29, 2020). ""Passionate champion of the province" Alberta Senator Elaine McCoy dies at 74". CTV News. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  23. Smith, Marie-Danielle (December 6, 2016). "'A victory for fairness': Senators agree to allow more independents on committees". National Post. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  24. Smith, Marie-Danielle (January 3, 2017). "How the Senate changed in 2016 - and what it means for the government's agenda for 2017". National Post. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  25. "Senators List". Senate of Canada. September 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  26. "Senators under gun to be more partisan, says Senator". The Hill Times. July 27, 2009. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  27. McCoy, Elaine (February 22, 2010). "Last best hope for democracy in Canada: An appointed Senate". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on February 24, 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  28. Münster, Cynthia (December 14, 2009). "Senate considers TV proceedings, again". The Hill Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2020.
  29. Desjourdy, Alain (November 2, 2007). "Un Sénat élu au Canada ? Non merci !". Perspective Monde. Archived from the original on November 9, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2010.
  30. Marshall, Andy (October 6, 1990). "The real McCoy: Principles come first". Calgary Herald. p. E1. ProQuest 244113048.

Sources
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