Published February 20, 2024

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

It’s not often someone appointed to a government position immediately faces a unanimous parliamentary motion to abolish that position.

Such was the case for Manon Jeannotte when she was named as the new lieutenant-governor of Quebec in early December, succeeding J. Michel Doyon, who had held the post for eight years.

The day after the prime minister’s office announced her appointment, the National Assembly passed a motion at the initiative of Québec Solidaire to replace the colonialist relic of lieutenant-governor with a more democratic position. 

How did Jeannotte, the first Indigenous person to hold the vice-regal post, react? “I smiled,” she told the QCT in an interview last week in the lieutenant-governor’s office on the first floor of the André Laurendeau building behind the National Assembly. “I said to myself, ‘It’s politics and I completely understand. I was not angry. I understand. I was in politics. I know they want to abolish the position, but for me, as long as I have the position I will exercise diplomacy.”

Jeannotte herself had her doubts about how the appointment of a First Nations person might be perceived by the Indigenous community when she was initially approached about the position in July. “My first reaction was what about the First Nations. I thought they would be angry about that. But no, it was the opposite.”

She said she received hundreds of messages from people in the Indigenous community congratulating her on the appointment. “They are really proud.”

Jeannotte may be the first Indigenous person to be named lieutenant-governor in Quebec, but other provinces have had vice-regal representatives with Indigenous roots over the years. The first was Ralph Steinhauer, who then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau named to the post in Alberta in 1974. At the federal level, Inuit leader Mary Simon became the first Indigenous governor general in 2021. 

Jeannotte addressed the matter of the National Assembly resolution head on in her speech at her installation ceremony on Jan. 25. 

“As a First Nations person, I should be the very first to want its abolition – however, this is not the case. Like the majority of Indigenous peoples in Canada, I agreed to work with the system in place, namely the system of constitutional monarchy of which Quebec is an integral part.

“It is important to note that the first treaties with the British crown were signed in 1678 and that the principles governing the negotiation of these treaties are defined in the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which is still in force today.”

Jeannotte said the Trudeau government chose her for her community involvement, especially her years as a councillor and then chief of the Gespeg Micmac Nation in the Gaspé. She said her father, who worked as an advisor to Indigenous groups, inspired her to enter politics after years of working as a civil servant in Ottawa. She also names late Huron-Wendat chief Max Gros-Louis as a strong influence on her.

Following her term as chief, she worked as an economic development advisor for another First Nations community in Quebec before becoming the co-leader of the First Nations Executive Education program at the École des hautes études commerciales (HEC) in Montreal. 

In her inaugural address, the section in English focused on environmental issues. “I am fully aware that we need a prosperous economy; however, for me, it should always be done in accordance with the principle of the next seven generations.”

She said, “respect, reconciliation and the environment will be my priorities for the coming years.” 

Jeannotte thanked the Gespeg council she had served for 15 years for the gift of a traditional drum, featuring an illustration of Cap Bon Ami in Forillon National Park.

Amidst her new duties, both ceremonial and constitutional, such as signing acts of legislation into law, Jeannotte needs to find a place to live in Quebec City. The lieutenant governor’s office, while spacious, has no living quarters.

Jeannotte, 52, is not only the first Indigenous person and the second woman to be named lieutenant governor, but also the youngest person to hold the office. 

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Lieutenant-governor Manon Jeannotte met the QCT in her office. The drum mounted on the wall is a gift from the Gespeg Micmac council she served on for many years.

Photo by Peter Black

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