Ottawa says Louise Arbour to be installed as governor general on June 8
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
OTTAWA – Louise Arbour will be sworn in as Canada’s next governor general on June 8, the Canadian Heritage Department confirmed.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Tuesday the retired Supreme Court justice will replace Mary Simon, who became Canada’s first Indigenous viceregal in 2021.
Arbour, an accomplished former jurist, is fluently bilingual, and has also previously served as UN human rights commissioner and chief prosecutor at The Hague.
Arbour, 79, was chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and made history when she became the first to indict a sitting head of state, president Slobodan Milosevic, for crimes against humanity.
The Montreal native also secured the first conviction for genocide since the establishment of the 1948 Genocide Convention, for the case against a former Rwandan mayor.
She also was first to prosecute sexual assaults as crimes against humanity.
King Charles approved Arbour’s appointment, which is the first since he took the throne in 2022.
The governor general is the King’s representative in Canada, a constitutional role that includes serving as commander-in-chief while representing Canada at home and abroad.
Her official duties include swearing cabinet ministers into office, proroguing and dissolving Parliament, making appointments on the prime minister’s advice, and granting Royal Assent to turn bills into law.
The swearing-in ceremony typically includes an address from the new governor general highlighting the themes she will prioritize during her mandate.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 7, 2026.
