Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau (1956 – August 2, 2019) was the 31st

Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick The lieutenant governor of New Brunswick (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the viceregal representative in New Brunswick of the , who operates distinctly wit ...

. She was installed on October 23, 2014. She was the viceregal representative of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada in the Province of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

Early life and education

Born in Newcastle, Miramichi, New Brunswick in 1956 and raised in

Robertville, New Brunswick Robertville is an unincorporated community in Gloucester County, New Brunswick, Canada. Situated northwest of the outskirts of Bathurst, it is mostly surrounded by forest. Among other communities in the surroundings are Beresford, Petit Roch ...

, Roy-Vienneau was the first woman to occupy a secular position as Vice President of a campus at the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian francophone university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on higher ed ...

, the first woman to direct a francophone community college in New Brunswick, and one of the first women to graduate from the Université de Moncton’s Faculty of Engineering.Lieutenant-governor appointee wants to inspire youth
, CBC News, August 12, 2014.

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 Shippagan is a Canadian town within Shippegan Parish, Gloucester County, New Brunswick. The parish retains the original English spelling, while the town officially adopted the colloquial French spelling on 1 July 1981. Shippagan was great ...

Campus. 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 New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) is a community college located throughout various locations in New Brunswick, Canada including Moncton, Miramichi, Fredericton (its head office), Saint John, St. Andrews, and Woodstock. New Brunswick Co ...

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."PM announces Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau as Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick"
. ''Prime Minister of Canada'', August 8, 2014. In August 2014, Roy-Vienneau was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick by

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...

David Lloyd Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commiss ...

on the

Constitutional advice In constitutional law, advice is a formal and usually binding instruction given by one constitutional officer of state to another. Particularly in parliamentary systems of government, heads of state often act on the basis of advice issued by prime ...

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

, on the suggestion of

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

David Alward David Nathan Alward (born December 2, 1959) is a Canadian politician, who served as the 32nd premier of New Brunswick, 2010 to 2014. Alward has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick since 1999 and has been the leader of the P ...

with support from the opposition. She was the first

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

woman to occupy the post. 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. Two scholarships worth $3000 are awarded to female second year undergraduate students studying engineering, respectively to one student at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

, and one student at the

per year.

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. Premier Brian Gallant met the lieutenant-governor and received permission to remain in power while submitting a

throne speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining th ...

to the legislature for a

confidence vote A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. 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.

Death

Roy-Vinneau died from cancer on August 2, 2019, after first being diagnosed in spring 2018. Canadian Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

issue
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". On the day of her death, the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

were asked to investigate "financial irregularities" in her office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roy-Vienneau, Jocelyne Lieutenant Governors of New Brunswick Members of the Order of New Brunswick Canadian women viceroys 1956 births 2019 deaths 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Deaths from cancer in New Brunswick