Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau

The Honourable
Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau
ONB
Roy-Vienneau in 2018
31st Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
In office
October 23, 2014 – August 2, 2019
MonarchElizabeth II
Governors General
PremierBrian Gallant
Blaine Higgs
Preceded byGraydon Nicholas
Succeeded byBrenda Murphy
Personal details
Born
Jocelyne Roy

1956
Newcastle, New Brunswick, Canada
Died (aged 63)
Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada
SpouseRonald Vienneau[1]
Children2
Alma materUniversité de Moncton

Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau ONB (1956 – August 2, 2019) was the 31st Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. She was installed on October 23, 2014. She was the viceregal representative of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada in the Province of New Brunswick.[2]

Early life and education

Born in Newcastle, Miramichi, New Brunswick in 1956[3][4] and raised in Robertville, New Brunswick, Roy-Vienneau was the first woman to occupy a secular position as Vice President of a campus at the Université de Moncton, the first woman to direct a francophone community college in New Brunswick,[5] and one of the first women to graduate from the Université de Moncton’s Faculty of Engineering.[4]

Career

Roy-Vienneau held a number of successful positions in education and engineering. She served two terms ending in 2014 as vice-president at the Université de Moncton's Shippagan Campus.[1] Previously to that, Roy-Vienneau was Assistant Deputy Minister, Post-Secondary Education, with New Brunswick's Department of Education. She also held several positions at the New Brunswick Community College in Bathurst, including director general and dean of Education. She began her career as a project engineer at the Esso Imperial Oil Limited refinery in Montreal.[5]

In August 2014, Roy-Vienneau was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick by Governor General of Canada David Lloyd Johnston on the Constitutional advice of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, on the suggestion of Premier David Alward with support from the opposition.[5] She was the first Acadian woman to occupy the post.[4]

In 2015, the Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau Undergraduate Engineering Scholarships for Women was created in her honour by the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick, and is offered annually.[6] Two scholarships worth $3000 are awarded to female second year undergraduate students studying engineering, respectively to one student at the University of New Brunswick, and one student at the Université de Moncton per year.[7]

2018 provincial elections

Roy-Vienneau played the role of referee in the aftermath of the 2018 New Brunswick general election, after no party won a majority. Of 49 seats, the Progressive Conservatives under Blaine Higgs won 22, the outgoing Liberals under Brian Gallant won 21, the Greens won 3 and the People's Alliance also won 3.[8] Premier Brian Gallant met the lieutenant-governor and received permission to remain in power while submitting a throne speech to the legislature for a confidence vote.[9] On November 2, the Liberal government lost the vote of confidence by a margin of 25–23. The lieutenant-governor therefore accepted the resignation of Brian Gallant, and Blaine Higgs became premier of New Brunswick.[10]

Death

Roy-Vinneau died from cancer on August 2, 2019, after first being diagnosed in spring 2018.[11] Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement regarding her death, offering condolences on behalf of his family and praising her achievements and contributions, saying "her work will continue to inspire future leaders for years to come".[6] On the day of her death, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were asked to investigate "financial irregularities" in her office.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b "Jocelyne Roy Vienneau Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick". Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. Office of the Lieutenant-Governor. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
  2. ^ Roy-Comeau, Mathieu (October 23, 2014). "La "fille de Robertville" devient lieutenante-gouverneure" (in French). Acadie Nouvelle. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  3. ^ "Book of Memories". Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Lieutenant-governor appointee wants to inspire youth Archived June 3, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, CBC News, August 12, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "PM announces Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau as Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick" Archived January 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Prime Minister of Canada, August 8, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Statement by the Prime Minister on the death of Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick Jocelyne Roy Vienneau". Prime Minister of Canada. August 2, 2019. Archived from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  7. ^ "Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau Undergraduate Engineering Scholarships for Women" (PDF). Engineers Geoscientists New Brunswick. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  8. ^ McPhail, Colin (September 25, 2018). "Liberals intend to form government, although Tories win more seats". CBC News: New Brunswick. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
  9. ^ Fraser, Elizabeth (September 26, 2018). "Liberals and PCs continue battle over who will govern N.B." CBC News: New Brunswick. CBC. Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  10. ^ Fraser, Elizabeth (November 15, 2018). "'With a heavy heart,' Brian Gallant says he'll resign as Liberal leader". CBC News: New Brunswick. CBC. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  11. ^ "New Brunswick's lieutenant-governor dies after battle with cancer". Archived from the original on August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  12. ^ Gill, Jordan (August 22, 2019). "RCMP investigate 'financial irregularities' at lieutenant-governor's office". CBC News NB. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019.