Elaine McCoy

Elaine McCoy, QC, BA, LL.B (born March 7, 1946 in Brandon, Manitoba) is a Canadian senator from Alberta.^[1] She has been the last remaining member of the Canadian Senate to sit as a Progressive Conservative since the retirement of Senator Lowell Murray on September 26, 2011.

Senate of Canada

Senator McCoy was appointed to the Senate by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Paul Martin, on March 24, 2005.^[2] She sits in the Upper House representing Alberta as an Independent Progressive Conservative. Unless she resigns or passes away, Senator McCoy will continue to sit in the Senate until 2021. She currently sits on the Senate Committee for Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, and the Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee.^[3][4]

Since being appointed to the Senate, Senator McCoy has been an influential voice for the role of the individual Senator,^[5][6] for effective Senate reform,^{[7][8][9][10][11]} for an inclusive federation and the role of Alberta in Canada. Senator McCoy broke new ground with her website, www.albertasenator.ca, and is the only member of the Senate of Canada who regularly blogs and tweets^[12] on her experiences in Ottawa and the political issues of the day.^[13][14][15] She sits as a Progressive Conservative Senator which ensures her independence and acknowledges her political heritage.^[16] A feature article on Senator McCoy in Maclean's magazine calls 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."^[16]

Senator McCoy is an important part of Calgary's environmental^[17] and charitable communities. She currently has or has had held memberships and leadership positions in many organizations, including:

• Vice-Chair, Alberta Climate Change Central^[18]
• Governor, Calgary Centre for Innovative Technology^[19]
• Chair, Joint Review Committee, Right-to-Work Study (Alberta Economic Development Authority and Alberta Government - 1995)^[20]
• President, Winston Churchill Society
• Committee Chair, Alberta Economic Development Authority^[20]
• Founding Director, Famous 5 Foundation^[21]
• Founding Director, Angela Cheng Foundation
• Senior Member, Alberta Ministerial Advisory Committee for Environmental Protection^[22]
• Director and life-long honourary member, Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta^[23]
• Member, Law Society of Alberta^[24]
• Member, Canadian Evaluation Society^[25]
• Member, Alberta Arbitration and Mediation Society^[26]

Macleod Institute

A lawyer by profession, McCoy is President of the Macleod Institute,^[27] affiliated with the University of Calgary, which is known for its expertise on program evaluations and environmental management. In this position, she authored the influential Bow Corridor Regional Mobility Strategy.^[28] Other highlighted achievements while at the Macleod Institute include:^[29]

• Action Plan for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the purpose of achieving long-term benefits from oil and gas development in the NWT.
• Comprehensive report on micro-power distributed generation for Alberta Economic Development (Barriers and Options for Improving Electricity Supply), and delivered results from a multi-stakeholder workshop that was instrumental in launching the New Energy Resources Alliance, a Canadian micro-power distributed generation industry cluster.
• Governance Case Study of the Vancouver Agreement, an urban development agreement between Canada, British Columbia and the City of Vancouver. The Case Study explores intergovernmental partnerships and recommends that Vancouver partners increase the effectiveness of their collaboration by systematizing operating paradigms.
• Canada-wide evaluation of Post-Secondary Education programs and Band-Operated and Federal Schools (BOFS) for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada that resulted in recommendations for improved resources and a broader vision for the department’s education secretariat.
• Alberta’s first Aviation Strategy and Action Plan which detailed 40 action items to be implemented by the newly formed, industry-led Aviation Strategy Action Group (now called Aviation Alberta).
• Method to integrate thresholds into cumulative effects assessment and management in Canada’s North.
• Evaluations and strategic reviews of the Western Diversification Program and all Canada Business Service Centres in Western Canada for Western Economic Diversification.
• Evaluation of the West Kitikmeot/Slave Study (WKSS). The WKSS comprises a partnership of three federal and territorial governments, together with several First Nations, industry and NGO organizations.
• Evaluation of accountability practices among more than 100 boards, agencies and crown corporations reporting to both the Government of the Northwest Territories and their own constituencies.
• Evaluation of Alberta Environment’s lab analysis and accreditation policies and programs, based on extensive interviews and a comparative review of Canadian and US practices. An analytical framework was developed as a first critical step in preparing recommendations which were subsequently adopted by the Government of Alberta.
• Analytical model which predicts the cost of regulatory delay for Alberta Environment. The report contributed to finalizing an agreement on harmonization entered into by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment.

Alberta Right-to-Work Joint Review Committee

In 1995, Senator McCoy was asked by the Alberta Government to Chair a Joint Review Committee (JRC) into whether or not Right-to-Work (RTW) legislation would be beneficial to the province. The study defined RTW legislation as ‘legislation that would prohibit employers and employees from agreeing to any form of union shop, closed shop or dues check-off arrangement.’ The Committee was formed on March 14, 1995 and had both labour and management representatives. It delivered its unanimous report in November of the same year. It received 225 written submissions from Albertans on the issue.^[30]

The JRC ultimately did not recommend RTW legislation for Alberta, as it found no evidence of economic advantage to it, and that it may well disrupt Alberta’s strong and stable labour relations of the time.

Alberta Government

From 1986 to 1993, Senator McCoy was the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Calgary West in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. In 1986, she was named to the Alberta Cabinet as Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs and Minister responsible for Women’s Issues^[31][32] by Premier Don Getty. As Minister, Senator 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.

In 1989, Senator McCoy was appointed as 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. Senator McCoy also shed light on violence against women and spearheaded the Lake Louise Declaration, which was Alberta’s first action plan designed to fight violence against women, and the first all-Canada declaration on the subject.^[33]

The McCoy Plan

At the 1992 Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta leadership convention, McCoy ran for the leadership of the party^[16][34] against the eventual winner, Ralph Klein. She ran on a platform known as the McCoy Plan, points of which were eventually co-opted by the Klein government.

Key points of the McCoy Plan:

• five-year business plans for all government departments and agencies
• zero-based budgeting; accrual accounting
• management and administrative costs cut in half
• rationalization of the tax burden on people and companies
• “one-window” co-ordinated service delivery throughout Alberta
• more training, skills development and educational opportunities for people across Alberta
• support for local communities so that they can do things their way

Prior to entering provincial politics, Senator McCoy pursued a career in law as senior legal counsel for the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and as counsel for TransAlta Utilities Corporation.

Senator McCoy is an alumna of the University of Alberta, and holds an LLB (1969) and Bachelor of Arts in English (1968). She is married to Miles Patterson, QC (recently deceased, January 2011).^[35]

External links

• www.albertasenator.ca
• Official Senate Biography

References