Misplaced Pages

Jules Léger

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Jules Leger) Governor General of Canada from 1974 to 1979
The Right HonourableJules LégerPC CC CMM CD
21st Governor General of Canada
In office
January 14, 1974 – January 22, 1979
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byRoland Michener
Succeeded byEdward Schreyer
More...
Personal details
Born(1913-04-04)April 4, 1913
Saint-Anicet, Quebec, Canada
DiedNovember 22, 1980(1980-11-22) (aged 67)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
SpouseGabrielle Léger
ProfessionDiplomat

Joseph Jules Léger PC CC CMM CD (April 4, 1913 – November 22, 1980) was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as the 21st governor general of Canada from 1974 to 1979.

Léger was born in Quebec and educated in Quebec and France prior to starting a career in the Canadian Department of External Affairs, and eventually served as ambassador to a number of countries. He was in 1973 appointed as governor general by Queen Elizabeth II, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau, to replace Roland Michener as viceroy, and he occupied the post until succeeded by Edward Schreyer in 1979. As the Queen's representative, Léger was credited for modernising the office and fostering Canadian unity.

On June 1, 1979, Léger was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, giving him the accordant style of The Honourable. However, as a former Governor General of Canada, Léger was entitled to be styled for life with the superior form of The Right Honourable. He died on November 22, 1980.

Early life and career

Born in Saint-Anicet, Quebec, to Ernest and Alda (née Beauvais), Léger, along with his brother (and future cardinal), Paul-Émile, was raised in a devoutly religious family. After completing high school, Léger went on to the Collège de Valleyfield and then the Université de Montréal, where he completed a law degree. Léger subsequently enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris, from which he was awarded a doctorate in 1938, the same year that, on August 13, he married Gabrielle Carmel, whom he had met at the University of Paris. The couple together had two daughters, Francine and Helene.

When Léger returned to Canada at the end of 1938, he was hired as an associate editor of Le Droit in Ottawa, but remained there for only one year before he went on to become a professor of diplomatic history at the University of Ottawa until 1942. Simultaneously, Léger joined in 1940 the Department of External Affairs, and in just over 13 years received his first overseas diplomatic posting as Canada's ambassador to Mexico. After his retirement from that office on August 1, 1954, he returned to Ottawa to act as under-secretary of state for external affairs, until, on September 25, 1958, he was commissioned as ambassador and permanent representative to the North Atlantic Council, occupying that post until 5 July 1962, as well as the Canadian representative to the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation in Paris. Then, from 1962 to 1964, Léger held the commission of ambassador to Italy, and, from 1964 to 1968 was the ambassador to France. It was during this time, in July 1967, that French president Charles de Gaulle visited Canada to attend Expo 67, and in Montreal gave his Vive le Québec libre speech. This event caused a diplomatic chill for many years between Canada and France; however, Léger attracted admiration for his subsequent sensitive handling of de Gaulle's policy towards Quebec.

By 1968, Léger had returned to Canada's capital and was appointed as under-secretary of state, providing the administrative basis for Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's foreign policy, and the policies on bilingualism and multiculturalism developed by the Cabinet chaired by Pearson's successor, Pierre Trudeau. Léger left that position in 1972, and briefly served as ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg between March 1973 and January 1974. His daughter Francine died by suicide at the Canadian Embassy in 1968.

Governor General of Canada

It was on October 5, 1973 that Queen Elizabeth II had, by commission under the royal sign-manual and Great Seal of Canada, appointed Pierre Trudeau's choice of Léger to succeed Roland Michener as the Queen's representative. He was subsequently sworn-in during a ceremony in the Senate chamber on January 14, of the following year.

Only six months later, just prior to a ceremony wherein he was to receive an honorary degree from the Université de Sherbrooke, Léger suffered a stroke, leaving him with impeded speech and a paralysed right arm. Though he returned to his viceregal duties not long after, presiding over an Order of Canada investiture in December 1974, his wife assisted him on many occasions, even reading parts of the Speech from the Throne in 1976 and 1978. Still, the Légers travelled across the country, encouraging Canadian unity at a time fraught with Quebec sovereignty disputes and perceived alienation by other regions, as well promoting the fine arts and artistic endeavours, aided at such by their friendships with painters such as Jean Paul Lemieux, Alfred Pellan, and Jean Dallaire. In 1978 Léger established the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music. He also established an award for heritage conservation and the Jules Léger Scholarship to promote academic excellence in bilingual programs at the University of Regina. Léger was credited with greatly modernising the Office of the Governor General, having, among other things, eschewed the traditional court dress of the Windsor uniform in favour of morning dress at state functions, though he was also negatively criticised for the same, as well as for asking that decorations, particularly those from the Second World War, not be worn at certain state events. He was further critiqued for remaining in such an important office despite his incapacitation. Still, he remained focused on the person and institution he represented, and was known to write to the Queen on a monthly basis. His official portrait was a first for including the viceregal consort, done to recognise Gabrielle's contributions to her husband's service.

Post viceregal life

After leaving Rideau Hall, the Légers continued to live in Ottawa. Léger died on November 22, 1980, and was survived by his wife and daughter.

Honours


Ribbon bars of Jules Léger


Appointments
Medals

Honorary military appointments

Honorary degrees

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (June 2009)

Honorific eponyms

Awards

Arms

Coat of arms of Jules Léger
Notes
As Léger served as governor general prior to the establishment of the Canadian Heraldic Authority, he was not granted a coat of arms until 1988, when his surviving relatives petitioned the Chief Herald of Canada some eight years after Léger's death. The design is based on the seal created for Léger by Alex Colville in 1975; unlike the arms for subsequent governors general, Léger's is devoid of embellishment, including neither the ribbon and insignia of the Order of Canada, nor supporters, crest, compartment, or motto.
Adopted
June 4, 1988
Escutcheon
Blue Céleste in chief an owl affronty hovering Argent in base a maple leaf ensigned by the Royal Crown both Or.
Symbolism
The maple leaf is symbolic of Canada, and the Crown of the Canadian sovereign that Léger represented as viceroy. The snowy owl evokes wisdom, and is also the official bird of Quebec, where Léger was born and raised.

See also

References

  1. Privy Council Office (June 1, 2001). "Information Resources > Historical Chronological List Since 1867 of Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada > 1971–1980". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  2. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "About the Department > Canadian Heads of Posts Abroad from 1880 > Italy". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  3. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "About the Department > Canadian Heads of Posts Abroad from 1880 > North Atlantic Council". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  4. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "About the Department > Canadian Heads of Posts Abroad from 1880 > Italy". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  5. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "About the Department > Canadian Heads of Posts Abroad from 1880 > France". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  6. ^ "Nations > Canada > Governors-General > Léger, Jules". Archontology.org. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  7. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "About the Department > Canadian Heads of Posts Abroad from 1880 > Belgium". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  8. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. "About the Department > Canadian Heads of Posts Abroad from 1880 > Luxembourg". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  9. "The Right Honourable Jules L�ger: Governor General". Archive.gg.ca. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  10. ^ Office of the Governor General of Canada. "Role and Responsibilities > Former Governors General > The Right Honourable Jules Léger". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  11. ^ Pepall, John (1 March 1990). "Who is the Governor General?". The Idler. Toronto. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  12. Boyce, Peter (2008). Written at Sydney. Jackson, Michael D. (ed.). The Senior Realms of the Queen (PDF). Vol. Autumn 2009. Toronto: Monarchist League of Canada (published October 2009). p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 29, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009. {{cite book}}: |periodical= ignored (help) Contribution: The Queen's Other Realms: The Crown and its Legacy in Australia, Canada and New Zealand (ISBN 978-1-86287-700-9)
  13. Office of the Governor General of Canada, Honours > Order of Canada > Search: Order of Canada Membership List > Jules Léger, C.P., C.C., C.M.M., C.D., Queen's Printer for Canada, retrieved September 5, 2010
  14. Office of the Governor General of Canada. "Honours > Order of Military Merit". Queen's Printer for Canada. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  15. Office of the Governor General of Canada. "Honours > Insignia Worn by the Governor General". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  16. "UBC Archives – Honorary Degree Citations 1972–1980". Library.ubc.ca. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  17. "1970-1979 – Université de Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada)". Usherbrooke.ca (in French). Archived from the original on 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  18. "Royal Military College of Canada Honorary Degree Recipients". Rmcc-cmrc.ca. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 2017-06-01.
  19. "Arms of Past and Present Canadian Governors General". Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. Archived from the original on 2009-06-17. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  20. "Arms of Past and Present Canadian Governors General > LÉGER, The Rt. Hon. Jules, PC, CC, CMM, CD". Royal Heraldry Society of Canada. Archived from the original on 2011-01-26. Retrieved March 11, 2009.

External links

Government offices
Preceded byRoland Michener Governor General of Canada
1974–1979 		Succeeded byEdward Schreyer
Diplomatic posts
Preceded byJames Coningsby Langley Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to Belgium and Luxembourg
March 1, 1973 – January 8, 1974 		Succeeded byJean-Yves Grenon
Preceded byPierre Dupuy Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to France
February 20, 1964 – October 31, 1968 		Succeeded byPaul André Beaulieu
Preceded byLéon Mayrand Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to Italy
28 May 1962 – April 17, 1964 		Succeeded byGordon Gale Crean
Preceded byL. Dana Wilgress Canadian Ambassador and Permanent Representative
to the North Atlantic Council
September 25, 1958 – July 5, 1962 		Succeeded byGeorge Ignatieff
Preceded byCharles Pierre Hébert Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to Mexico
October 14, 1953 – July 8, 1954 		Succeeded byDouglas Seaman Cole
Governors general of Canada
Categories: