PWAC Victoria: Carole Pearson, Writing Sample

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Women in the House

by Carole Pearson © 2003

A look at the personal lives of Jenny Kwan and Joy MacPhail, then the only NDP MLAs in the B.C. Legislature. Published in Our Times magazine, cover story, Feb./Mar. 2003.

"I'm up by 6 a.m. I am a morning person and I enjoy that. But it means I need to be in bed by 11. I like to watch The National and then go to sleep. Not a very exciting life, is it?" Joy MacPhail laughs. Maybe it's not exciting, but her life's definitely not boring, either.

MacPhail is the leader of the B.C. New Democratic Party and, since 1991, the MLA (member of the Legislative Assembly) for Vancouver-Hastings, a traditional NDP stronghold of working-class and multi-ethnic voters. She and colleague Jenny Kwan were the only NDP MLAs to retain their seats in the 2001 provincial election, when the Liberals captured 77 of 79 seats in the Legislature. It means MacPhail and Kwan hold the sum total of opposition seats in the provincial house. Formidable odds, but "formidable" isn't in MacPhail and Kwan's vocabulary. Instead, people use it to describe them.

It's late in the afternoon on opening day of the spring session of the Legislature, but MacPhail shows no signs of weariness. Sparring in the house and lambasting Liberal policies in the media act as a tonic for her, feeding her energy instead of sapping it. "I have always had a high level of energy that arises out of an exuberance for life," she says, back in her office in the legislative buildings. "There are so many people who rely on Jenny and me as their only hope that I concentrate all my energy on my job. And it's fun! It's well worth it. It's very rewarding."

Seated at her desk, she appears to welcome yet another interview in the course of her busy day. "What got me into politics? It was having my son," she says. "I always have been active in the progressive movement, through the labour movement and then the NDP. I was a policy wonk. I was always a person who participated in the making of policy, and I was also a campaign organizer. When the seat became open in the area where I was residing, I said to myself, 'Well, you've got this baby. You can't just be esoteric and policy-driven. You actually have to be able to make real changes to protect his future.'"

As a member of B.C.'s former NDP government, MacPhail held a number of cabinet positions over the years, including the education, health, labour, social services and finance portfolios. She has also been deputy premier and government house leader.

MacPhail credits her parents for her life of social activism. Her father was a construction worker and her mother was a nurse. "They were both very active in their unions," she comments, "and also active in the United Church. We were not well off. We were very working-class, and our social life revolved around the United Church, which is a very socially active church. So it was bred into us that the family survived as the community survived."

Asked whether she believes women politicians are treated differently than their male counterparts, MacPhail says. "I haven't found that, because I'm a feminist first and foremost. Sometimes people come up to me and say, 'Joy, that wouldn't have happened to you if you were a man.' And I think perhaps there's some truth to that. But then, there are also times I'm allowed to behave much more compassionately because I'm a woman. I'm sure a lot of men in politics would like to be much more compassionate, except that it's not as accepted in a man. I think it balances out."

MacPhail is frequently asked if it is difficult being a woman in politics. Her response is that she thinks it's difficult being the parent of young children while in politics for both women and men. "The reason I say that is because there are very few family supports built into this job. The hours are long. When we leave here, we go home to work in our constituencies on the weekend. Your job is miles and miles away from your family's home, so that's very challenging."

The B.C. Legislature is in session six months a year. The MLAs are in the house four days a week, Monday to Thursday. The sessions begin at 10 a.m. and run until 6 p.m. except on Mondays and Wednesdays, when there are night sittings lasting until 9 p.m. This means MLAs have to live in Victoria during the week and commute back home on Thursday evenings to work in their constituencies.

Asked whether she purposely sets aside private or family time for herself, MacPhail replies, "Absolutely. I'm very strict about that. Very. I carve out family time. Now, it's modest compared to what I would really like. And I don't permit any intrusions into it unless it's an absolute emergency." MacPhail devotes one weekend each month to spend time with her 14-year-old son. She calls herself a "soccer mom" and a "baseball mom." So, she says, "I schlep around 14-year-old boys on the weekend and, you know, the car stinks up and all that kind of stuff. And I love that! I love the community participation."

While many can imagine MacPhail becoming Premier Joy MacPhail when the next election is fought in B.C., what are her more long-range plans? Does she see herself eventually leaving political life? "Oh, yes," she responds, "although, this is now my 12th year in politics, so some might look at this with a jaundiced eye."

"I see myself doing something different in my last decade of work. I know exactly what I want to do, but everyone pooh-poohs it. I'd like to be a gardener in Stanley Park in my next career. It's a good union job," she smiles. "But people laugh at that." One suspects she is only half-joking. "One of my favourite responsibilities that used my training as an economist," she adds, "was as Minister of Finance. I wouldn't reject out of hand going into the private sector."

For now, however, MacPhail appears fully committed to political life. "The best part of being a politician," she says, "is being able to make change. The ability to govern and make changes is hugely rewarding. While we [the NDP] were in government, we made wonderful changes on behalf of working people, and that is the best aspect of public service."

Then MacPhail rushes off to yet another appointment. Meanwhile, Jenny Wai Ching Kwan, the MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, is in her office nearby, methodically returning phone calls from concerned members of the public who want to vent their anger at the Liberal government, or offer words of encouragement to the opposition MLAs.

Vancouver-Mount Pleasant is adjacent to MacPhail's riding of Vancouver-Hastings. Within her electoral boundaries, Kwan has the gritty, resilient, Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, often described as the "poorest postal code in Canada." On the surface, it's an area of rundown, single-room-occupancy hotels where people with drug and alcohol addictions live, and prostitution and related criminal activity thrive. But, where others see urban decay, Kwan sees a thriving community of amazing spirit.

"My biggest motivating factor is the people in my own community," she says, "and particularly those who are the most marginalized. It is a wonder to me how they survive on a day-to-day basis, and yet, they have such tenacity and such caring in their own community that they take the time and effort to fight for fairness and equality for the common good. I can't tell you how much talent exists with the people in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant. And how they are so giving of everything they have, no matter how little they have. When I look at them, I think 'My god, they are the best example of humanity, of what is good in all of us. I think they exemplify that.'"

Vancouver-Mount Pleasant is also one of the most ethnically diverse ridings in the province, a place where some 76 different languages are spoken by the substantial numbers of immigrants who have found homes within its many neighbourhoods.

Kwan knows first-hand about the challenges immigrants face. She was nine years old when she emigrated from Hong Kong in 1975, with her parents and five siblings. Although drawn to Canada to improve the lives of their children, her parents faced major cultural and language differences, which made it difficult to rise above poverty. Well-paid jobs were hard to get and Kwan recalls her mother "worked for $10 a day as a farm worker to support her family. She was amazing. She rolled up her sleeves and did whatever she had to do to keep us together."

Kwan was first elected to public office in 1993 and, at 28, she was the youngest person to ever serve on Vancouver City Council. Asked what motivated her to enter the political arena at that time, she explains: "I was working as a community legal advocate on issues around poverty, tenants rights, immigrations, human rights and housing. At the time, I didn't think community advocacy was political in nature. But it was only really through that work that I came to realize that, in fact, it was very political. These policies and changes in government decisions have an impact on people's lives, so, there's a direct link. Eventually, people began to ask me to run for city council."

For three years, she was the sole member on council from the Committee of Progressive Electors (COPE), Vancouver's progressive civic organization formed in 1968 by the Vancouver labour council and its allies. When the provincial election was called in 1996, Kwan ran successfully as the NDP candidate in the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant riding, and served in the Glen Clark government. In 1998, she was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs, becoming the first Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister. Over the next three years, she also served as Women's Equality Minister, and Minister of Community Development, Cooperatives and Volunteers.

Despite a hectic career, Kwan has found time to pursue a personal life. Since being first elected as an MLA, Kwan has married and, at the time of writing, she is awaiting the birth of her first child. In her eighth month of pregnancy, she walks slowly as a rule, and shoes come off at any opportunity. But she settles patiently behind her desk for an interview with Our Times, taking time to give full, thoughtful responses that reflect a deep compassion for the plight of others, and almost an awe of the power of the human spirit.

When the provincial house of commons is in session, Kwan is usually up just before 7 a.m. Since becoming pregnant, she makes a point of having breakfast ("something I never used to do"). She arrives at her office around 9 a.m. "so I can gather my thoughts for the day," she says, before heading into the Legislature.

One needs to be clear-headed and focussed in these circumstances. While surrounded by 77 government MLAs, Kwan and MacPhail have to serve as watchdog to 28 cabinet portfolios. MacPhail takes on the financial or economic-related ones, and Kwan deals with those of a social nature. But each woman must be prepared to tackle any portfolio on her own, since other work-related obligations can often require one or the other to be absent from the house.

So how do they manage to keep informed about so many areas of concern? "You'd be amazed how much information we get from the public," says Kwan. "Even as we're debating issues in the house, we get phone calls from people who are watching. They call in questions, saying 'Ask the minister this. I happen to be an expert on this issue.' Or, 'I work in that field,' and they actually make up a list and send it in while we're debating."

When there are night sittings, Kwan sometimes doesn't leave her office until 9:30 or 10 p.m., and she often takes files home with her to read before turning in for the night. "I try to catch the 11 o'clock news and I usually go to bed around midnight. It's a pretty full day," she says. "As well, sometimes people ask us to come and speak, and Joy and I try to accommodate them as best as we can."

Asked about who she calls her heroes, Kwan says, without hesitation, "My mom. She's a pillar of strength. She is the strongest woman I know. She taught us, and gave us the foundation, to believe in what is right and to pursue our dreams. She's my biggest hero. She's now helping me out as I anticipate the birth of my first child, so I can continue, as best I can, with the work I'm doing." Kwan intends to return to her MLA job in May. Her 70-year-old mother will stay with her in Victoria to help attend to the baby.

Kwan has other heroes as well, including her federal counterpart, Vancouver East NDP MP Libby Davies ("one of my greatest mentors"), Jim Green of the Downtown Eastside Residents Association ("he helped me shape my beliefs into political action"), and Margaret Mitchell, the former NDP MP for Vancouver East ("another MP who has done a lot of work with marginalized people").

Says Kwan: "I often think, 'Thank god for the people before me, who paved the way. The fact that I'm sitting here as an elected official, an ethnic minority woman--it's not because of me, make no mistake about it. It's the people who fought for women and ethnic minorities to have the right to vote and stand for elected office. They did the work. I didn't. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

The daylight outside the window fades. The staff have gone home for the day, but Kwan remains behind to return a few more calls and lock up the office. It's all part of a job where, too often, there really aren't enough hours in the day. Still, Kwan remains positive. "I look at these things like a baton passed in a relay race," she says. "You pass the baton from generation to generation. Yes, our hopes and dreams may seem so impossible at the moment--and I'm sure the women that fought for those rights that I now enjoy felt exactly the same thing. But, thank god, they never let go. They kept their gaze on the star that shines so that I now can benefit from it. I hope I can contribute in some way, in my career, so that the next generation can carry the fight on to the next level."

For more information about Jenny Kwan and Joy MacPhail, visit their website: www.opposition.bc.ca.

For more information about Vancouver's Coalition of Progressive Electors, contact:

COPE
140 - 111 Victoria Dr.
Vancouver, B.C. V5L 4C4

Telephone: (604) 255-0400
Fax: (604) 708-5740
E-mail: cope@cope.bc.ca
Website: www.cope.bc.ca

Carole Pearson
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Last updated: November 16, 2005 http://www.islandnet.com/pwacvic/pearsn04.html