It is a sad day on the political history calendar as we recall that it was on November 22, 1980 that former Governor General Jules Léger passed into history.
A leading Canadian diplomat, journalist and professor, Léger was tapped by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to serve as Canada’s 21st Governor General, replacing Roland Michener, in 1973. Sadly, and only a few months after assuming his role as the Queen’s representative to Canada, Léger suffered a serious stroke. This left him with a speech impediment and his right arm was paralyzed. But, with the steadfast support of his wife, Gabrielle, who even read parts of the Speeches from the Throne her husband had to deliver, he soldiered on. He remained in office for his full five-year term and died, in Ottawa, less than a year after leaving Rideau Hall.
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Gov. Gen Jules Léger and Queen Elizabeth/caption
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.
Gov. Gen Jules Léger and Queen Elizabeth/caption
Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.Arthur Milnes is an accomplished public historian and award-winning journalist. He was research assistant on The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney’s best-selling Memoirs and also served as a speechwriter to then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper and as a Fellow of the Queen’s Centre for the Study of Democracy under the leadership of Tom Axworthy. A resident of Kingston, Ontario, Milnes serves as the in-house historian at the 175 year-old Frontenac Club Hotel.