Before entering politics, she was active in feminist organizations such as the Equal Rights and Opportunities Commission, and in community programs such as Place for Kids Daycare.
[4] The NDP won a majority government in this election, and Phillips served in the assembly as a backbench supporter of Howard Pawley's administration.
[1] The previous speaker, Jim Walding, had become unpopular with his own party in 1984, when he allowed the opposition Progressive Conservatives to delay passage of a bill entrenching French language rights in Manitoba.
[6] Phillips generally avoided the controversies of her predecessor, although she was once criticized for attending an NDP caucus meeting during her tenure as speaker.
[6] The NDP were unexpectedly defeated in the legislature in early 1988, when Jim Walding voted against his party's budget in an evenly divided house.