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The HonourableSteven Lewis PointOC OBC
Point in 2009
28th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia
In office October 1, 2007 – November 2, 2012
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governors General	Michaëlle Jean David Johnston
Premier	Gordon Campbell Christy Clark
Preceded by	Iona Campagnolo
Succeeded by	Judith Guichon
Personal details
Born	(1951-07-28) July 28, 1951 (age 73) Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Spouse	Gwendolyn Point
Children	Á'a:líya Warbus
Education	University of British Columbia (LLB)
Occupation	Academic administrator

Steven Lewis Point, OC OBC (Xwelíqwetel) (born July 28, 1951) is a Canadian academic administrator, criminal lawyer, and jurist. He is the current chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 2007 to 2012. He also served as the chair of the advisory committee on the safety and security of vulnerable women, a committee that provides community-based guidance to the implementation of the recommendations from the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry.

From 1975 to 1999, Point served as Chief of the Skowkale First Nation. From 1994 to 1999 he served as Tribal Chair of the Stó:lō Nation. In December 2023 it was announced that he will be invested into the Order of Canada as an Officer of the Order, the Governor General of Canada Mary Simon making the announcement.

Education

Point attended the University of British Columbia, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in May, 1985, and was later a faculty member.

Career

From 1986 to 1989 he practiced criminal law and native law as a partner in the law firm of Point and Shirley. He worked for Citizenship and Immigration Canada as an immigration adjudicator for several years, starting in about 1989, at its refugee backlog office in Vancouver. In 1999, he became a British Columbia Provincial Court judge. On February 28, 2005, he became Chief Commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission.

His appointment as Lieutenant Governor was announced on September 4, 2007, by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He assumed his duties in a ceremony at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia on October 1, 2007. As the Queen's viceroy in British Columbia, he was styled His Honour while in office and retains the style of The Honourable for life.

On December 17, 2012, Point was appointed chair of an Advisory Committee under a one-year contract that allowed him to bill up to $220,000 in that year. The position required him to assist the Minister of Justice to implement the recommendations dealing primarily with police reform and public safety made by Wally Oppal in his Inquiry Report released December 12, 2012. On May 17, 2013, Point resigned from his position as chair on the grounds that lawsuits commenced by the children of missing women prevented him from fulfilling his mandate. Members of the Advisory Committee and family members expressed doubt about this reason on the basis that Point had expressed his intention to resign before the children's lawsuits were filed, and on the basis that there is no logical or practical connection between his work as chair of the Advisory Committee and the lawsuits.

On February 20, 2014, Point was re-appointed as a provincial court judge, effective March 3, 2014. He retired from office on October 31, 2018.

On June 18, 2020, Point was introduced as the 19th Chancellor of the University of British Columbia, succeeding Lindsay Gordon from July 1, 2020.

In 2022, a residential street in Richmond, British Columbia, was renamed from Trutch Avenue to Point Avenue due to the racism associated with Joseph Trutch, the first lieutenant governor of British Columbia, and to honour Point.

Point's daughter, Á'a:líya Warbus, is the nominee for the Conservative Party of British Columbia in the newly created riding of Chilliwack-Cultus Lake.

Awards

• Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002
• Order of British Columbia, 2007
• Knight of The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, 2008
• Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012
• Officer of the Order of Canada, 2023

Honorary degrees

Point has received many honorary degrees in recognition of his service to British Columbia and to Canada. These include:

Honorary degrees

Location	Date	School	Degree
British Columbia	2000	University College of the Fraser Valley	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
British Columbia	14 November 2012	University of Victoria	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
British Columbia	2013	University of British Columbia	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
British Columbia	2017	Capilano University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)
British Columbia	14 June 2018	Justice Institute of British Columbia	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2020)

Arms

See also

• Notable Aboriginal people of Canada
• The Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples

References

1. "LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS AND TERRITORIAL COMMISSIONERS Historical List". parl.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-12-11.
2. ^ "UBC appoints the Honourable Steven Lewis Point as next Chancellor". UBC News. June 18, 2020.
3. "Office of the Lieutenant Governor - Biography". Office of the Lieutenant Governor. 2007. Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
4. Government takes immediate action on missing women report
5. Bellett, Gerry (September 23, 2011). "UBC unveils new $56-million law school". Vancouver Sun.
6. "Judicial Retirement – The Honourable Judge Steven Point" (PDF).
7. Zhang, Steve (May 8, 2022). "Richmond renames street after B.C.'s first Indigenous lieutenant-governor". CBC News. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
8. "Á'a:líya (A'aliya) Warbus at Conservative Party of BC".
9. Canada Gazette
10. "Order of Canada appointees – December 2023". Governor General of Canada. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
11. "Honorary degrees, Secretariat". University of the Fraser Valley.
12. "UVic To Award Four Honorary Degrees - University of Victoria". UVic.ca. 12 October 2012.
13. "The Honorable Steven Point, O.B.C. | Graduation at UBC". graduation.ubc.ca.
14. "Steven Point - Capilano University". www.capilanou.ca.
15. "JIBC to present honorary degree to former lieutenant-governor". May 16, 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-02-29.
16. "Past Honorary Degree Recipients". Archived from the original on 2020-02-29.
17. Canadian Heraldic Authority. "The Public Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges of Canada > Steven Lewis Point". Queen's Printer for Canada. Retrieved February 10, 2014.

• Steven Point appointed B.C.’s new lieutenant-governor
• Premier's Statement On New Lieutenant-Governor
• Prime Minister announces appointment of Steven Point as Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia
• British Columbia Treaty Commission - Commissioner Biographies

External links

• Lieutenant Governor & Government House Website
• Á’a:líya Warbus to run in Chilliwack-Cultus Lake for B.C. Conservatives

• 1951 births
• Living people
• 20th-century Canadian lawyers
• 20th-century First Nations people
• 21st-century Canadian lawyers
• 21st-century Canadian politicians
• 21st-century First Nations people
• Chancellors of the University of British Columbia
• Academic staff of the University of British Columbia
• First Nations academics
• First Nations judges
• 21st-century Canadian judges
• First Nations lawyers
• Indigenous leaders in British Columbia
• Indspire Awards
• Judges in British Columbia
• Knights of Justice of the Order of St John
• Lawyers in British Columbia
• Lieutenant governors of British Columbia
• Members of the Order of British Columbia
• Officers of the Order of Canada
• People from Chilliwack
• Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni
• Sto:lo people