 |
Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc
b. 18 Dec 1927, L'Anse-aux-cormiers, Memramcook, New Brunswick
d. 24 Jun 2009, Grande-Digue, New Brunswick |
| Title: |
Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada = Gouverneur général et Commandant en chef du Canada |
| Term: |
8 Feb 1995 - 7 Oct 1999 |
| Chronology: |
16 Jan 1995,
appointed by Commission under the Great Seal of Canada [1] |
| |
8 Feb 1995, took an oath of allegiance and an oath of office as Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, public ceremony, Senate Chamber, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario [2] |
| |
7 Oct 1999,
appointment superseded by the Commission of a successor effective on taking the prescribed oaths [3] |
| Biography: |
| Educated at St Joseph's University (now Université de Moncton) and University of Paris in France before teaching in New Brunswick in the 1950s; joined Radio-Canada as a journalist in 1960 and became press secretary to Prime Minister Lester Pearson in 1967; stayed on as press secretary to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau until 1971 when he returned to Université de Moncton as director of public relations; was elected to the House of Commons, representing Westmorland-Kent, New Brunswick (1972-1984); served as Minister of State (Fisheries) (1974-1976), Minister of Fisheries and the Environment (1976-1979), Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (1980-1982), and Minister of Public Works and Minister responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and the National Capital Commission (1982-1984); chose not to seek re-election in 1984 and was summoned to the Senate of Canada on 29 Jun 1984; was appointed Speaker of the Senate on 7 Dec 1993; a fluently bilingual Acadian, he was selected by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in 1994 to succeed Ray Hhatyshyn as Governor General of Canada; was the first Maritimer and first Canadian of Acadian descent to hold the vice-regal office; instituted the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award in 1996 and the Governor General's Awards in Visual and Media Arts in 1999. |
| Biographical sources: The Canadian encyclopedia: year 2000 edition. McClelland & Stewart Inc., Toronto. |
| |
| [1] |
Canada Gazette, Part I, Extra, No. 2, 8 Feb 1995, p. 3. |
| [2] |
Canada Gazette, Part I, Extra, No. 2, 8 Feb 1995, pp. (1)-2; Globe and Mail, 9 Feb 1995, pp. A01, A04, A23. |
| [3] |
Canada Gazette, Part I, Extra, No. 3, 7 Oct 1999 pp. (1)-2; Globe and Mail, 8 Oct 1999, pp. (A1), A3, A15. |
