Joyal was particularly well known at the time for having supported L’Association des gens de l’air, a group which was criticizing the lack of spoken French by airport controllers.
MAG succeeded in electing one member to Montreal council (auf der Maur), but Drapeau's party won 52 seats.
Following the 1980 general election, Joyal served as co-chair of the Joint Committee on the Patriation of the Canadian Constitution.
On November 26, 1997, Joyal was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and serves on a number of committees specialising in legal and constitutional affairs.
In 2004, these paintings were placed on the walls of the Salon de la Francophonie, featured in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, as companions to the portraits of the British and then Canadian monarchs who had been the sovereigns of the territories forming Canada since 1763.