Joy MacPhail
Joy K. MacPhail is a Canadian former politician in British Columbia. A longtime member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party, she served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 1991 to 2005 and as a Minister of the Crown from 1993–1999, and 2000-2001.
MacPhail was born in Hamilton, Ontario, but has lived in Vancouver for almost three decades. She studied economics at the University of Western Ontario, and later earned a degree in labour studies at the London School of Economics. She has one son.
MacPhail was first elected to the British Columbia Legislature in 1991 as the MLA for Vancouver-Hastings, and served in the cabinets of three NDP premiers. Under Premier Mike Harcourt, she served as Minister of Social Services from 1993 to 1996. Under Premier Glen Clark she served a short stint as Minister of Social Services, then as Minister of Health from 1996 to 1998. MacPhail's final cabinet position in the Clark government was as Minister of Finance from 1998 to 1999, when she quit the Clark government at a time when it was suffering from increasing dissent and scandal.
When Clark eventually quit the NDP leadership, MacPhail ran for NDP leader, but did not attract significant legislative caucus support. She withdrew when it became obvious that Ujjal Dosanjh had an insurmountable lead. Under Dosanjh, she was the Deputy Premier and served as Minister of Labour and later, Minister of Education.
The NDP suffered a massive electoral blow in the May 16, 2001 provincial election, winning only two seats—those of MacPhail and Environment Minister Jenny Kwan. MacPhail only held onto her seat by 409 votes.
Exactly one month after the election, MacPhail was appointed as the party's interim leader. She was a harsh critic of the new BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell. Although the NDP was the only other party in the legislature, it was four seats short of official party status. Despite this, Assembly Speaker Claude Richmond ensured that the NDP was resourced as an opposition and she was recognized by the Speaker as the Leader of the Opposition.
MacPhail stepped down as leader in 2003 and was succeeded by Carole James. She remained as parliamentary leader of the NDP until her retirement from politics after the 2005 election.
Following her departure from politics, MacPhail married film and television producer James Shavick, and is currently a partner in his production firm Shavick Entertainment. She is a member of the board of OutTV, a Canadian cable television station owned by Shavick Entertainment, and focused on the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. She has also appeared as a member of political panels on As It Happens on CBC Radio.
In July 2017, once the BC NDP formed the provincial government, MacPhail replaced Barry Penner as chair of Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.
