In a province with so few GLBTQ activists, those who are tend to stand out. Amongst those, even fewer have the longevity – let alone the pizzazz – of Michael Phair, currently the Edmonton City Council member for Ward 4.
Phair is a fixture at a variety of events in Edmonton throughout the year, especially within the GLBTQ community. His Ward is the most diverse in Edmonton, not unlike Calgary’s Ward 8. Representing the various communities that call Ward 4 home is something Phair takes very seriously, despite the often outrageous get-ups he is famous for wearing.
Phair has served his roughly 140,000 constituents for 15 years on City Council; a total of five terms. He plans to retire from politics at the end of this term and has no plans to seek either provincial or federal office, but does plan to seek another career.
“City Council members don’t get a pension, so I will need to continue working somewhere in order to pay the bills,” he notes.
When he was first approached in 1989 with the idea of running for City Council there were very few openly gay or lesbian politicians in Canada apart from Svend Robinson (federal NDP). It wasn’t until 1998 that Glen Murray became Mayor of Winnipeg.
At first, Phair wasn’t interested in running for City Council as he was deeply involved in GLBTQ politics with GATE, the Gay Alliance Toward Equality, which eventually evolved into the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre of Edmonton and then into Edmonton Pride Centre. He was also one of five founding members of the AIDS Network of Edmonton (now HIV Edmonton) as well as being involved in a variety of other projects. However, by 1992 he started to seriously consider running for office, realizing much could be accomplished by having a queer voice at the municipal level, and tossed his hat into the ring during the ’92 civic election.
Phair came from a background of political activity having been involved with GATE since 1980 where he initially took on the responsibility of organizing social functions - monthly dances, Pride, and fundraisers - before becoming involved in the political and advocacy aspect of the organization. He was familiar with the internal workings of politics, having worked as an Alberta Government bureaucrat for Education and Early Childhood Services as well as Immigration and Settlement Services. He also worked on a variety of election campaigns.
In 1990, GATE threw its support behind Delwin Vriend in his push to have sexual orientation included as a protected characteristic in Alberta human rights legislation (at the time, the Individual Rights Protection Act or IRPA). That battle would last several more years and be fought all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada with Ralph Klein’s government fighting it every step of the way. In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Vriend’s petition and ‘sexual orientation’ was to be “read into” provincial human rights legislation. Phair sees the success of the Vriend Decision as one of the high points of his political and community career.
Being one of the few openly gay political candidates at any level in Canada - and the first openly gay candidate to be elected in Alberta - his sexual orientation immediately became an issue and the media of the era constantly referred to him as ‘the gay candidate’, either inferring or outright claiming he would be a “single issue” politician. Phair’s record clearly shows they were wrong.
Being gay has never really been that big an issue for Phair. He came out in the late 1970’s during a period when the queer community was just beginning to form its own institutions, organize itself, and develop. By 1980 he was fully out and being approached by the media to speak on GLBTQ issues. He came out to his family, who do not live in Alberta, over the phone.
At first, his mother was reluctant to accept the information. His father didn’t say much about it and Phair suspects he knew all along. His siblings were not at all surprised, with one sister stating she always knew - and what was the big deal anyway?
Phair has a flair for the dramatic and quickly established a reputation for showing up at functions dressed in often flamboyant and colourful shirts and accessories.
“I like to have fun and enjoy life,” Phair says about his public sartorial choices. “And, yes, my tastes really are that bad!” he laughs. One suspects Phair is being coy and, in fact, has excellent taste - this is simply recognized an opportunity to make his mark on the public consciousness and made a conscious choice to ‘enjoy the game as well as the name.’ If the media and his critics were going to make that big a deal out of his being gay, then Phair was going to have some fun with it.
Phair finds his shirts in second hand shops, the wardrobe department of local theatre groups who sometimes will loan something truly outrageous out to him, and from his involvement with Carib Fest.
“They make most of their costumes…and mine…from scratch, or adapt stuff, and I inherited a lot of my outfits from them. They’ve been great!” he chuckles.
As with any political career there have been high and low points. “One of the lowest points,” says Phair “was former mayor Bill Smith’s refusal to proclaim Pride Week, despite the previous administration under Jan Reimer having done so.”
“I was deeply disturbed by comments made by Mayor Smith, and others, about homosexuals and about Pride,” he adds, believing Smith’s position and public comments cast a dark stain on Edmonton’s reputation.
Mayor Steve Mandel has, in Phair’s view, more than made up for the disrespect committed under Smith’s administration. “Not only has Mayor Mandel been totally open to proclaiming Pride Week, and flying the Rainbow Flag in front of City Hall, but he marched at the head of the Pride Parade in 2005 along with then-Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan and various Liberal and NDP MLAs,” he notes, adding “The Mayor’s Breakfast, which attracted over 200 people this year, was a fundraiser for Camp fYrefly, the GLBTQ&A youth leadership camp.”
Phair is quick to point out his accomplishments are not his alone but, rather, part of efforts from a variety of people and organizations. Having said that, he is most proud of having assisted in establishing a GLBTQ-inclusive Ethics and Code of Conduct for the City of Edmonton, obtaining same-sex spousal benefits for City employees, the Edmonton Arts Council funding for Gay Pride, funding via Edmonton’s Grants Program to the Edmonton Pride Centre, and the establishment of an Office of Inclusiveness and Diversity; as well as the establishment, along with Murray Billet (now an openly gay member of the Police Commission), the GLBTQ-Edmonton Police Service Liaison Committee and the position of a Hate-Bias Crime coordinator within EPS.
Phair seems less willing to talk about the low points but did mention he was taken aback by the level of anti-gay rhetoric coming out of various MLA’s offices during the Delwin Vriend case. He was also very disappointed in Premier Klein’s threats to invoke the Charter’s Notwithstanding Clause in order to block having to include ‘sexual orientation’ as a protected characteristic in provincial human rights legislation.
“It was a difficult time for all of us involved in the Vriend case,” notes Phair. “City Hall had to start monitoring calls coming into my office because I was receiving death threats.”
There has long been a rivalry between Edmonton and Calgary; sometimes good-natured and sometimes not so good-natured. However, there are distinct differences between the ethos of both cities and Phair is sensitive to that.
“It’s simply not the case of whether one city is better than the other,” he notes. “But, yes, I definitely see a difference in the culture between Calgary and Edmonton.”
Phair attributes the differences to several factors. “Because Edmonton is the capital, there is more talk about and more interest in politics here; it permeates city life,” he says. “Secondly, and I think this is changing, Edmonton is further from the US-Canada border and therefore, historically, has not had as strong an American influence as Calgary has had. We tend not to be as influenced, I don’t think, by the anti-GLBTQ rhetoric – and the culture that produces – as Calgary, which has a very strong American influence at a corporate level.”
Edmonton has always been a blue-collar city to Calgary’s white-collar, and Phair thinks that has played a role as well. Furthermore, he believes the strong influence of Eastern and Central European immigrants such as Ukrainians, Germans, Poles and Yugoslavs has made a difference. Many members of these ethnic groups settled in the Edmonton area in higher numbers than those in Calgary, which also has a strong European immigrant history from the late 19th and early 20th century exoduses.
“With Edmonton being geographically more isolated from other large urban centres, there was a tendency to create a strong local culture, to retain more of the Old World than what one might perhaps find in Calgary with its relatively easy access to the US and Vancouver, for instance.”
Phair has an abiding interest in history, having been a History Major in University as a younger man. That interest has also played a role in his civic work.
“I have always been fascinated by architecture and appreciate buildings, artifacts, and streetscapes for the intrinsic beauty they have,” he says. “I think it is important – crucial – to understand our own history in order to have a sense of place and a sense of who we are. We need those visual clues to remind us of who we are and where we came from. …It is important for a city to not only be functional but also for a city to be beautiful. I think Edmonton is a beautiful city, although in the 60’s and 70’s we destroyed much of our heritage and now it’s gone forever.”
He is, however, proud the City of Edmonton is the second municipality in Canada to declare an entire district historical, after the Crowsnest Pass. Old Strathcona, located on the south side of Edmonton across the river from the modern-day downtown and adjacent to the University of Alberta campus, is the ‘original Edmonton’ – much like Inglewood is to Calgary – and boasts many fine and ornate 19th Century and early 20th Century buildings. Phair sees another high point of his career as the designation of Old Strathcona (which is within his Ward) as an historical district.
Phair seems to be at every event in Edmonton and his energy is often infectious.
“I have no idea where that energy comes from; it’s just part of what needs to be done,” he says. “Sure, there are times when I just want to stay home and veg out in front of the TV, but I have a responsibility – as a City Councilor – to be visible, and I take my responsibility very seriously.”
Phair notes that Ward 4 has more events than any of the other Wards and with all the different organizations vying for donations within the GLBTQ community, there is constantly something going on within the community.
“The GLBTQ community organizations are well-known, both here and in Calgary, for raising money for charitable causes. Be it HIV/AIDS, homelessness, youth, support programs within the community itself, whatever…and it’s important the City of Edmonton be seen to be in support of those initiatives, which is where I come in,” he says.
His penchant for “being everywhere all the time”, he freely admits, has a political overlay to it. “I enjoy doing this. I’ve always been a social person, but I am also very aware visibility means votes, as cynical as that sounds…it’s not meant to be cynical.”
Is he worried about accusations of “over exposure” or of being a “media slut?”
“No!” he chuckles. “Not that there is anything wrong with being a slut, media or otherwise….but I suspect some of my fellow council members are quite happy I’m out there so much. It gives them a break and it gives me, and therefore Council, an opportunity to address issues of concern to Edmontonians. I hear concerns about everything from pot holes to you-name-it, and it’s important we hear that stuff, absolutely. …I’ve been involved in advocacy all my adult life, a rabble-rouser if you will. I certainly could never be described as the type to sit back and be passive. I couldn’t be, it’s just not in me,” he adds.
As an openly gay politician, however, Phair is very conscious of the tendency to be labeled “a gay spokesperson” and is therefore very careful that what he says is as reasonable as possible.
“Our community is so diverse on so many levels,” he says. “No one person or organization could even begin to represent the community. I can only speak from my perspective and from my experience. It may reflect the perspective and experience of others in the community or it may not. Those of us involved in public advocacy on GLBTQ issues need to always be conscious of that, and I think we are, even as the media tends to label us as ’spokespeople.’”
Over the years, Phair has received several awards and citations for his work and contributions. The one that most took him by surprise was when the Edmonton Journal named him Citizen of the Year in 1986, during his tenure with the AIDS Network of Edmonton, the Canadian AIDS Society and GATE.
“Remember, this was in the early days of the AIDS epidemic and the gay men’s community was under considerable attack and viewed with a high degree of mistrust, more so than even today, so I was shocked to receive it, I really was,” he remembers. “In fact, when the Edmonton Journal reporter called me for a comment about receiving the award I thought it was a practical joke – a prank call - and hung up on him!”
The Imperial Court of the Wild Rose likewise acknowledged his contributions by awarding him the 1985 John Desmit Award for Outstanding Community Involvement. “I believe that was the first time the award had been given to someone outside the Imperial Court system,” he says.
Another special award was the one given to him in 1999/2000 by Catholic Family Services in “Special Recognition” of his work and advocacy.
One honour he is especially proud of, however, is having a scholarship at the University of Alberta named after him: the Michael Phair Leadership Award for GLBTQ Undergraduates.
Michael Phair has left an imprint on Edmonton, and Alberta, politics – loud, flamboyant, over-the-top shirts, Dame Edna sunglasses, and Carmen Miranda headdresses not withstanding. An impression that will be long remembered.
