{{Short description|Canadian politician (1941–2020)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Nancy Guptill | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1941|4|28}} | birth_place = Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada<ref name="parl">O'Handley, Kathryn Canadian ''Parliamentary Guide, 1994'' {{ISBN|0-921925-54-9}}</ref> | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|8|24|1941|4|28}} | death_place = Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada | office = 25th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island | term_start = April 15, 1993 | term_end = November 27, 1996 | predecessor = Edward Clark | successor = Wilbur MacDonald | office1 = MLA for 5th Prince | term_start1 = 1987 | term_end1 = November 27, 1996 | predecessor1 = George McMahon | successor1 = riding dissolved | office3 = MLA for St. Eleanors-Summerside | term_start3 = November 27, 1996 | term_end3 = 2000 | predecessor3 = first member | successor3 = Helen MacDonald | party = Liberal | occupation = radiotherapy technician }} '''Nancy Evelyn Guptill''' (April 28, 1941 – August 24, 2020) was a Canadian politician from Prince Edward Island (PEI). She served in its Legislative Assembly from 1987 to 2000. A member of the provincial Liberal Party, she represented the electoral districts of 5th Prince from 1987 to 1996 and St. Eleanors-Summerside from 1996 to 2000. She was noted for being part of PEI's Famous Five when she was elected speaker in 1993.
==Early life== Guptill was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia,<ref name=Yarr>{{cite news|title=Nancy Guptill, one of P.E.I.'s Famous Five, dies in Summerside|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-nancy-guptill-obituary-1.5698706|first=Kevin|last=Yarr|date=May 31, 2020|accessdate=August 26, 2020|publisher=CBC News}}</ref> on April 28, 1941.<ref name="parl"/> She was the daughter of Lloyd and Evelyn Garrison. Guptill was educated at the Halifax Vocational School and the Victoria General Hospital.<ref name="parl"/> She married L.R. Gregg Guptill in 1964. Together, they had three daughters. The family eventually relocated to Summerside on Prince Edward Island in 1975.<ref name=Day>{{cite news|title=Nancy Guptill, one of P.E.I.'s Famous 5, dies at 79|url=https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/nancy-guptill-one-of-peis-famous-5-dies-at-79-489043/|first=Jim|last=Day|date=August 25, 2020|accessdate=May 10, 2025|newspaper=The Guardian|location=Charlottetown, Canada|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200826005115/https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/nancy-guptill-one-of-peis-famous-5-dies-at-79-489043/|archivedate=August 26, 2020}}</ref>
==Career== Guptill started her career in politics as a member of the town council for Summerside, Prince Edward Island for two terms. She later revealed that she had never intended to enter politics.<ref name=Day/> She decided to run only after being advised that she had no chance of being elected, since she was not from PEI and a woman.<ref name=Yarr/> She went on to be elected as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1987. She was appointed to the provincial cabinet two years later, serving as Minister of Tourism and Parks from 1989 to 1991 and as Minister of Labour and Minister responsible for the Status of Women from 1991 to 1993.<ref name="parl"/> Throughout her tenure as MLB, Guptill was noted for her resolve to create jobs for her constituents in Summerside.<ref name=Yarr/>
Guptill was subsequently elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on April 15, 1993, and served in that office until 1996.<ref name=Day/> She became part of the province's Famous Five, together with Marion Reid (Lieutenant Governor), Catherine Callbeck (Premier), Pat Mella (Leader of the Opposition), and Libbe Hubley (Deputy Speaker). It marked the first time that all five legislative positions in a Canadian province were held by women.<ref name=Yarr/><ref name=Day/> Premier Callbeck remembered Guptill for her sense of fairness as a speaker.<ref name=Yarr/> She worked in that capacity with local police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to improve the security of Province House, after a pipe bomb exploded in the legislature on April 20, 1995.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=DeMont|first=John|author-link=John DeMont|date=May 1, 1995|editor1-last=Lewis|editor1-first=Robert|title=Wakeup Call|url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1995/5/1/wakeup-call|magazine=Maclean's|location=Toronto|volume=108|issue=18|pages=26, 28|access-date=August 26, 2020}}</ref>
Throughout her tenure in the legislature, Guptill found the work-home-life balance to be testing. Her husband's support, coupled with the fact that their daughters were at an older age, made the situation less difficult.<ref>{{cite news|title=Nancy Guptill: A Political Life Not Planned|url=https://www.peifamousfive.ca/Guptill-feature|accessdate=August 26, 2020|work=Interministerial Women's Secretariat|publisher=Government of Prince Edward Island}}</ref> Consequently, she advocated for shorter working hours to give female MLAs the opportunity to raise a family at the same time.<ref>{{cite news|title=25 years later, P.E.I.'s 'Famous Five' still push for more women in government|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-25-years-later-women-in-government-1.4650071|first=Cody|last=MacKay|date=May 5, 2018|accessdate=August 26, 2020|publisher=CBC News}}</ref>
==Later years== Guptill retired as an MLA before the provincial election in 2000.<ref name=Yarr/> She was later named chair of the provincial Workers Compensation Board in 2008.<ref name=Day/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.pe.ca/news/getrelease.php3?number=5494|title=Minister Bertram welcomes new Chair of Workers Compensation Board|publisher=Government of Prince Edward Island|accessdate=May 13, 2009}}</ref>
Guptill died on August 24, 2020, in Summerside.<ref name=Yarr/> She was 79, with her daughter noting that she loved spending her time with family and close friends.<ref name=Day/>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Guptill, Nancy}} Category:1941 births Category:2020 deaths Category:Members of the Executive Council of Prince Edward Island Category:Politicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Category:Politicians from Summerside, Prince Edward Island Category:Prince Edward Island Liberal Party MLAs Category:Prince Edward Island municipal councillors Category:Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island Category:Women government ministers of Canada Category:Women legislative speakers Category:Women MLAs in Prince Edward Island Category:Women municipal councillors in Prince Edward Island Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians Category:20th-century Canadian municipal councillors