| The Right Honourable Jules Léger PC, CC, OMM, CD |
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21st Governor General of Canada |
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| In office January 14, 1974 – January 22, 1979 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Pierre Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Roland Michener |
| Succeeded by | Edward Schreyer |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | April 4, 1913 Saint-Anicet, Quebec |
| Died | November 22, 1980 (aged 67) Ottawa, Ontario |
| Spouse(s) | Gabrielle Léger |
| Profession | Diplomat |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Jules Léger PC CC CMM CD (April 4, 1913 – November 22, 1980) was a Canadian diplomat and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 21st since Canadian Confederation.
Léger was born and educated in Quebec and France prior to starting a career in the Canadian Department of External Affairs, and eventually served as ambassador to a number of countries. He was in 1973 appointed as governor general by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau, to replace Roland Michener as viceroy, and he occupied the post until succeeded by Edward Schreyer in 1979. As the Queen's representative, Léger was credited for modernising the office and fostering Canadian unity.
On June 1, 1979, Léger was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada,[1] giving him the accordant style of The Honourable. However, as a former governor general of Canada, Léger was entitled to be styled for life with the superior form of The Right Honourable. He died on November 22, 1980.
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Born in Saint-Anicet, Quebec, to Ernest and Alda (née Beauvais), Léger, along with his brother, Paul-Émile, was raised in a devoutly religious family. After completing high school, Léger went on to the Collège de Valleyfield and then the Université de Montréal, where he completed a law degree. Léger subsequently enrolled at the Sorbonne in Paris, from which he was awarded a doctorate in 1938, the same year that, on August 13, he married Gabrielle Carmel, whom he'd met at the University of Paris. The couple together had two daughters, Francine and Helene.
When Léger returned to Canada at the end of 1938, he was hired as an associate editor of Le Droit in Ottawa, but remained there for only one year before he went on to become a professor of diplomatic history at the University of Ottawa until 1942. Simultaneously, Léger joined in 1940 the Department of External Affairs, and in just over 13 years received his first overseas diplomatic posting as Canada's ambassador to Mexico. After his retirement from that office on August 1, 1954,[2] he returned to Ottawa to act as under-secretary of state for external affairs, until, on September 25, 1958, he was commissioned as ambassador and permanent representative to the North Atlantic Council, occupying that post until 5 July 1962,[3] as well as the Canadian representative to the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation in Paris. Then, from 1962 to 1964, Léger held the commission of ambassador to Italy,[4] and, from 1964 to 1968 was the ambassador to France.[5] It was during this time, in July 1967, that French president Charles de Gaulle visited Canada to attend Expo 67, and in Montreal gave his infamous Vive le Québec libre speech. This intrusion of the President into Canadian affairs caused a diplomatic chill for decades thereafter between Canada and France; however, Léger attracted admiration for his sensitive handling of de Gaulle's policy towards Quebec.[6]
By 1968, Léger had returned to Canada's capital and was appointed as under-secretary of state, providing the administrative basis for Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson's foreign policy, and the policies on bilingualism and multiculturalism developed by the Cabinet chaired by Pearson's successor, Pierre Trudeau.[6] Léger left that position in 1972, and briefly served as ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg between March 1973 and January 1974.[7][8]
It was on October 5, 1973 announced from the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada that Queen Elizabeth II had, by commission under the royal sign-manual and Great Seal of Canada, approved Pierre Trudeau's choice of Léger to succeed Roland Michener as the Queen's representative. He was subsequently sworn-in during a ceremony in the Senate chamber on January 14, of the following year.
Only six months later, just prior to a ceremony wherein he was to receive an honorary degree from the Université de Sherbrooke, Léger suffered a stroke, leaving him with impeded speech and a paralysed right arm. Though he returned to his viceregal duties not long after, presiding over an Order of Canada investiture in December 1974, his wife assisted him on many occasions, even reading parts of the Speech from the Throne in 1976 and 1978. Still, the Légers travelled across the country, encouraging Canadian unity at a time fraught with Quebec sovereignty disputes and perceived alienation by other regions,[9] as well promoting the fine arts and artistic endeavours, aided at such by their friendships with painters such as Jean Paul Lemieux, Alfred Pellan, and Jean Dallaire.[9] In 1978 Léger established the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music. He also established an award for heritage conservation and the Jules Léger Scholarship to promote academic excellence in bilingual programs at the University of Regina.
Léger was credited with greatly modernising the Office of the Governor General, having, among other things, eschewed the traditional court dress of the Windsor uniform in favour of morning dress at state functions, though he was also negatively criticised for the same, as well as for asking that decorations, particularly those from the Second World War, not be worn at certain state events.[10] He was further critiqued for remaining in such an important office despite his incapacitation.[10] Still, he remained focused on the person and institution he represented, and was known to write to the Queen on a monthly basis.[11] His official portrait was a first for including the viceregal consort, done to recognise Gabrielle's contributions to her husband's service.[9]
After leaving Rideau Hall, the Légers continued to live in Ottawa. Léger died on November 22, 1980, and was survived by his wife and daughter.
| Viceregal styles of Jules Léger (1974-1979) |
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| Reference style | His Excellency the Right Honourable Son Excellence le très honorable |
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| Spoken style | Your Excellency Votre Excellence |
| Alternative style | Sir Monsieur |
Léger's style and title as governor general was, in full, and in English: His Excellency the Right Honourable Jules Léger, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada, and in French: Son Excellence le très honorable Jules Léger, chancelièr et compagnon principal de l'ordre du Canada, chancelièr et commandant de l'ordre du mérite militaire, gouverneur générale et commandant en chef du Canada.
In his post-viceregal life, Léger's style and title is, in English: The Right Honourable Jules Léger, Companion of the Order of Canada, Commander of the Order of Military Merit, and in French: le très honorable Jules Léger, compagnon de l'ordre du Canada, commandant de l'ordre du mérite militaire.
Léger's post-nominal letters are, in order according to the Oxford University Calendar Notes on Style:[12] PC, CC, OMM, CD, LLB Mont, LLD Paris, LLD(hc) Ott
| Ribbon bars of Jules Léger | |||
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| Government offices | ||
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| Preceded by Roland Michener |
Governor General of Canada 1974 — 1979 |
Succeeded by Edward Schreyer |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by James Coningsby Langley |
Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium and Luxembourg March 1, 1973 – January 8, 1974 |
Succeeded by Jean-Yves Grenon |
| Preceded by Pierre Dupuy |
Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France February 20, 1964 – October 31, 1968 |
Succeeded by Paul André Beaulieu |
| Preceded by Léon Mayrand |
Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Italy 28 May, 1962 – April 17, 1964 |
Succeeded by Gordon Gale Crean |
| Preceded by L. Dana Wilgress |
Canadian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council September 25, 1958 – July 5, 1962 |
Succeeded by George Ignatieff |
| Preceded by Charles Pierre Hébert |
Canadian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Mexico October 14, 1953 – July 8, 1954 |
Succeeded by Douglas Seaman Cole |
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