The cause of death was not immediately known, although Fairbairn resigned in 2013 after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The native of Lethbridge, Alta. was appointed to the Senate in 1984. The Canadian Paralympic Committee said Fairbairn had been a “pillar” of the Paralympic movement in Canada for many years. She was inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2011 in recognition of her important role in the development of Paralympic sports in Canada. “She has always been a fan of all the Canadian Paralympics and we appreciated her support so much. She will miss her very much,” Marc-André Fabien, chairman of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, wrote in a statement on Tuesday. CBC News previously reported that Fairbairn had broken ground As one of the first female journalists in the parliamentary press room, she was a senior adviser to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and later became the first female head of government in the Senate. All Canadian government buildings and facilities in Lethbridge will have flagpoles from now until sunset on the day of the funeral or memorial service, according to a semi-police notice by the federal government. A school in Lethbridge was named after Sen. Joyce Fairbairn Middle School. Justin Trudeau speaks with Senator Joyce Fairbairn at a party at Parliament Hill in Ottawa in June 2002. (Tom Hanson / The Canadian Press)
