The Duties of Jeanne Sauve: First Female Governor General of Canada

Carol Roach
Previously published in Examiner

To learn more about Canadian or Quebec politics, both McGill University and Concordia University in Montreal offer wonderful political science degrees, that you may want to look into.


Montreal's Concordia University has a wonderful women's studies program at the Simone do Beauvoir Institute



The duties of a governor general is to represent the ruling British Monarch in Canada. The governor general carries out administrative duties and also celebratory or festive activities. We will now look at the three female governor generals of Canada, two of which were from Montreal.


Governor generalship of Jeanne Sauve


Jeanne Sauve's Various Functions as Governor General of Canada


As Governor General, Jeanne Sauve was left out of the meeting between Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1984, but was present to greet the Royal family when they visited. She met with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; the Queen Mother, Prince Andrew and his wife Sarah Princess of York, and Prince Edward Earl of Wessex., the third son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.


Heraldic Arms


On June 4, 1988, Prince Edward visited Rideau Hall, the residence of the Governor General of Canada, to present Jeanne Sauve with the Royal Patents letter ,which give her the authority to grant and preside over the issuing of the heraldic arms in Canada. Jeanne Sauve was the first head of the Canadian Heraldic Authority, the body that creates the coat of arms, badges, and other ceremonial designations for Canada.


Greeting Foreign dignitaries


As Governor General of Canada, Jeanne Sauve also greeted foreign dignitaries. She welcomed King King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, King Hussain of Jordan, Secretary-General of the United Nations Javier Pérez de Cuéllar , Romanian president Nicolae CeauÅŸescu, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Chinese president Li Xiannian, Pope John Paul II, French president François Mitterrand, and Mother Teresa. Jeanne Sauve finally got her chance to greet President Ronald Reagan on home territory.


In turn, Jeanne Sauve also traveled to Uruguay. Brazil, China, France, Thailand, The Peoples Republic of China, Italy, and The Vatican in her capacity as the Queen's representative for Canada.


Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Sauv%C3%A9

Published by Carol Roach

Carol Roach holds a masters in counselling psychology. She worked as a therapist at the Douglas Hospital in Montreal before becoming a professional writer.Carol is the author of the book Picking Up The Piece...  View profile

8 Comments

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  • Lori Gunn9/17/2011

    Great article:)

  • Martin Kloess9/4/2011

    well written - thank you

  • Sandy James9/3/2011

    Another interesting series. Thanks, Carol.

  • Mike Powers8/31/2011

    An outstanding biographical article. Thanks!

  • Laura Cone8/28/2011

    neat!

  • Dina Montgomery8/28/2011

    Excellent... :o)

  • Harriet Steinberg8/27/2011

    that women's study program is probably interesting. If it was out here, I'd probably join them.

  • Michele Starkey8/27/2011

    Nicely written, cheers ;)

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