Merritt-area rancher Judith Guichon was sworn in Friday as B.C.’s 29th Lieutenant Governor.
Guichon and her husband Bruno Mailloux were welcomed to the B.C. legislature with a blessing by Lottie Lindley, elder of the Upper Nicola Band of the Okanagan Nation.
Guichon, 65, succeeds Steven Point, who completed his term Thursday. She is the second female lieutenant governor in B.C. history, following former MP Iona Campagnolo, who preceded Point.
In her inaugural speech, Guichon said she will carry on the work of her predecessors, including support for literacy and reconciliation with aboriginal people in B.C. As owner of the historic Gerard Guichon Ranch on the shore of Nicola Lake and a former president of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, she vowed to continue her work as a “steward of the land.
“Many of the first ranchers, including the Guichon family, came to British Columbia 150 years ago, chasing their dreams of gold,” Guichon said. “As I tell the students who visit the ranch, they came for the gold, but they stayed for the grass.”
Guichon and her late husband Lawrence Guichon are credited with introducing holistic management to the B.C. cattle industry, emphasizing preservation of natural grassland. She intends to make that approach a theme for her term.
“As generations become further removed from an agrarian lifestyle, and as we lose community, I fear that civil society becomes less civil,” Guichon said. “It is at our peril that the great cities of the world forget that civilization relies on the health of the soil upon which it rests.”
Guichon was also inducted into the Order of B.C., with the title of chancellor that is given to every lieutenant governor.
Lieutenant-governors are appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of prime ministers.
They serve five-year terms as the Queen’s representative in each province, declaring new legislation and performing ceremonial duties around the province.
Point retires as lieutenant-governor
Wearing a kilt representing the clan of a Scottish ancestor, Lieutenant Governor Steven Point ended his five-year term Thursday with a unique ceremony at the B.C. legislature.
In the ornate rotunda now decorated by his hand-carved dugout canoe, B.C.’s first aboriginal Queen’s representative joined a choir and band to perform an original song he dedicated to the people of B.C.
Premier Christy Clark presented Point and his wife Gwendolyn with gifts, and Point was visibly moved when presented with a hand-crafted guitar made in Kamloops. Clark praised the couple for their work during the past five years, including a partnership with Rotary Clubs on literacy in remote B.C. communities.
Clark recounted Point’s career, which he started as a chief of his own First Nation before moving on to Grand Chief of the Sto:lo Tribal Council. He then earned two law degrees, became a provincial court judge, and then served as chief commissioner of the B.C. Treaty Commission before accepting Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s invitation to serve as lieutenant governor.
“He set out to be a role model for First Nations people, to inspire young people, and he has reached that goal,” Clark said.
Point praised Clark and said the country needs more women leaders, and also showed his penchant for humour.
“Well, it’s all over,” Point said. “I feel like Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz. I’m going to go home now.”
