The Lieutenant Governors

The Lieutenant Governors

The lieutenant governors are appointed by the Governor General, in the name of The Queen, on the advice of the prime minister, to represent The Queen in their provinces. In this way, the vice-regal representatives mirror the country’s federal system, underlining that the provinces are as potent in the exercise of their constitutional responsibilities as is the national government in its assigned jurisdictions. It is an historic office, in a sense pre-dating that of the Governor General, as the earliest colonial governors—of whom Samuel de Champlain was first—in fact had responsibility for areas roughly corresponding to some of today’s provinces.

Following the use of a successful ad hoc advisory panel for the selection of a Governor General in 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on November 4, 2012, the creation of a permanent new Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments, chaired by the Canadian Secretary to The Queen, Kevin MacLeod, with permanent members Robert Watt (Citizenship Judge and formerly first Chief Herald of Canada) and Jacques Monet, SJ (historian, author and former University president). The new non-partisan Advisory Committee provides the Prime Minister with non-binding recommendations on the selection of the Governor General and Lieutenant Governors. For the purpose of recommending a Lieutenant Governor, two temporary members are added to the Committee from the province concerned.

As with the Governor General, the lieutenant governors are appointed to serve at Her Majesty’s pleasure. However, in practice, vice-regal appointments are customarily limited to five years, unless the prime minister of the day recommends that their time in office be extended.

The role of the lieutenant governors is both constitutional and social. As representative of the Sovereign, they form a part of the provincial legislative assemblies, summoning and dissolving its sessions and giving royal assent to legislation in The Queen’s name. They must approve all actions (“Orders-in-Council”) of the provincial executive councils. Generaly, they preside over the provinces’ individual honours systems, allowing the provincial orders and similar recognitions to carry the dignity and prestige of the Crown. Socially, they lend their vice-regal patronage to a variety of causes and community events, ranging from the Scouts to prizes for academic and literary achievement, thus underlining the important role of the Crown in encouraging Canadians to give of their best. Each lieutenant governor chooses several areas of special concern that serve to draw the attention of the population to causes ranging, for example, from Aboriginal reconciliation to youth and disability issues.

Much of the most influential role of the Crown takes place in local communities, day to day, and often under the radar of the national media, through the constant round of vice-regal activities undertaken by Canada’s ten lieutenant governors. Each represents The Queen in a way reflective of the province and of their own personal style. Below are brief descriptions of The Queen’s provincial representatives.

The Hon. Janice Filmon, former Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba with the Late Queen

Alberta

The Honourable Salma Lakhani

Installation: August 26, 2020
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Volunteer in Edmonton community organizations
Key focus: Mentorship of ESL students, support for new immigrants, health care education
Quotable: “I have spent many days reflecting on the immense significance, and incredible privilege, of being appointed as Her Majesty’s representative in this great province, almost 50 years after the British government graciously allowed us to complete an education that brought us here…to this remarkable country and extraordinary province, which opened its arms and became a home to a young couple who arrived in the middle of the night, from a world away, unsure of what the future would bring.” – Installation Speech
www.lieutenantgovernor.ab.ca

British Columbia

The Honourable Janet Austin

Installation: April 24, 2018
Position most recently held prior to appointment: CEO, YWCA Vancouver
Key focus: fairness, social justice, vulnerable people
Quotable: “Our Queen has given us a symbol of civility, dignity, and self-sacrifice. Ever gracious and courteous, she has earned the respect of people around the world. I promise to do my best to represent her in British Columbia with the commitment to public service and the kind concern for others that she has always exemplified.” (from Installation address)
www.ltgov.bc.ca

Manitoba

The Honourable Anita R Neville

Installation: October 24, 2022
Position most recently held prior to appointment: community activist in charitable and non-profit projects
Key focus: Reconciliation, justice, learning

www.manitobalg.ca

New Brunswick

The Honourable Brenda Murphy

Installation: September 8, 2019
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Executive Director, Saint John’s Women’s Empowerment Network; Municipal Councillor, Grand Bay-Westfield
Quotable: “I am confident that Ms. Murphy will be outstanding in this new role and I look forward to working with her. Ms. Murphy has made tremendous contributions to this province and its people through her work aimed at ending poverty and family violence, and advancing women’s equality and will continue to do so as the lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick.” – Premier Blaine Higgs
www.gnb.ca/lg

Newfoundland and Labrador

The Honourable Joan Marie J. Aylward

Installation: November 14, 2023
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Executive Director, St Patrick’s Mercy Home; Vice-Chair, NL Labour Relations Board; Chair, Aging Population Committee for Health Accord for NL
Key focus: Education, “children as leaders today”
Quotable: “While many aspects of this position are ceremonial, its endurance maintains the commitment of our province and our Canada to a constitutional democracy steeped in the history of struggle, loss and error.” (from Installation address)
www.govhouse.nl.ca

Nova Scotia

The Honourable Arthur J. LeBlanc

Installation: June 28, 2017
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Justice, Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
Key focus: Community service, Acadian heritage and community
Quotable: “I am deeply honoured to have been called to serve in a position that reaches back to the earliest days of contact between the Mi’kmaq and those French adventurers who arrived at Annapolis Royal more than 400 years ago…” From Installation address
lt.gov.ns.ca

Ontario

The Honourable Edith Dumont

Installation: November 16, 2023
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Vice-President of Partnerships, Communities, and International Relations, Université de l’Ontario français
Key focus: Support democracy in Ontario, reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
Quotable: “My goal will be to ensure, both in words and through positive social action, that the office of the lieutenant-governor remains a relevant institution for advancing civic engagement, building inclusive communities, and supporting the future of our democracy” (extract from Installation address)
www.lgontario.ca

Prince Edward Island

The Honourable Antoinette Perry

Installation: October 20, 2017
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Music and French teacher
Key focus: Acadian culture
Quotable: “I am honoured to accept with gratitude the role bestowed on me today, in accepting the responsibility I am inspired by the dedicated service displayed so gracefully and elegantly by her majesty Queen Elizabeth II…As a girl guide, I recall having a great desire to meet her one day and now I get to live that dream — a few years later,” (from Installation address)
www.gov.pe.ca

Québec

The Honourable Manon Jeannotte

Installation: January 25, 2024
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Director, First Nations Executive Education at HEC Montreal
Key focus: Being a representative voice for all Quebecers
Quotable: “The Crown represents one of the colonizers of the First Peoples of this continent. As an Aboriginal person, I should be the very first to want its abolition. However, this is not the case… Like the majority of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, I agreed to work with the system in place, namely the system of constitutional monarchy, of which Quebec is an integral part…This process of acceptance is precisely part of reconciliation…I respect differences of opinion… I will always act with respect for the different parties sitting in the National Assembly and I expect in return the same welcome… and the same respect.”
www.lieutenant-gouverneur.qc.ca

Saskatchewan

The Honourable Russ Mirasty

Installation: July 19, 2019
Position most recently held prior to appointment: Leader in Student First Engagement Process; Assistant Commissioner, RCMP
Quotable: “Understanding and accepting who you are and how that enables you to be strong as you look into the future. So the culture and identity, particularly for Indigenous people is very important, and again that ties to young people and how they see themselves and how they see themselves fit into this bigger, complicated world..”
www.ltgov.sk.ca