Lise Thibault
| The Honourable Lise Thibault | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec | |
| In office January 30, 1997 – June 7, 2007 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | Roméo LeBlanc Adrienne Clarkson Michaëlle Jean |
| Premier | Lucien Bouchard Bernard Landry Jean Charest |
| Preceded by | Jean-Louis Roux |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Duchesne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 2, 1939 Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec |
| Spouse(s) | René Thibault |
| Parents | Paul Trudel Laurenza Wolfe |
| Profession | Civil servant, Teacher, Journalist |
Lise Thibault (French pronunciation: [liz tibo]; born 2 April, 1939) was appointed the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec in 1997 and later pled guilty to charges of fraud and breach of trust relating to expenses.[1]
Early life
Born in Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec, she was the eldest daughter of Paul Trudel and Laurenza Wolfe. She was educated at the Académie Marie-Anne de Montréal, and then went on to teachers' college at Cégep de Saint-Jérôme. She married René Thibault in 1959.[2]
Career
Thibault taught with the adult education department of the Milles-Îles and Des Écores school boards from 1973 to 1978. She worked for Télé-Métropole from 1977 to 1981. From 1982 to 1984 she was a host and researcher at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as for programs about family and community issues. She was the vice president for Quebec's Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) from 1987 to 1993. She was President and CEO of the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec from 1993 to 1995.[2]
On the advice of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, the Governor General appointed her Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, following the resignation of Jean-Louis Roux in 1997. She became Quebec's first female viceroy, and the first disabled lieutenant governor in Canada; Thibault was permanently disabled in a tobogganing accident as a teenager, and uses a wheelchair. In February 2005 Madame Thibault suffered a stroke. She was one of the longest serving lieutenant governors in Canadian history, serving for over ten years. As a former viceregal representative of Elizabeth II, as Queen in Right of Quebec, she is styled The Honourable for life.
Criminal charges
In 2007, she was accused of spending beyond the limits of her expense account. Questions on her spending continued after her departure, with federal and provincial auditors general pointing to $700,000 in unjustified expenses (CBC). The files were turned over to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for investigation. She was criminally charged for offences involving fraud, breach of trust, forgery and fabrication of false documents related to the misspending of public funds during her ten years in office.[3] Thibault's lawyer argued unsuccessfully in Quebec Superior Court that Thibault should receive sovereign immunity, because "the Crown's prosecution cannot prosecute the Crown"—referring to her prior office as the Queen's representative in Quebec.[4]
Arms
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References
- ↑ Hamilton, Graeme. "Lise Thibault, Quebec’s former lieutenant-governor, pleads guilty to fraud and breach of trust". National Post.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Lise Thibault". The Great Names of the French Canadian Community. 2000. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
- ↑ The Globe and Mail "Former Quebec lieutenant-governor facing charges"
- ↑ Canadian Press. "The court is not amused: Canadian judge rejects royal privilege argument." The Vancouver Sun, August 27, 2012.
- ↑ Canadian Heraldic Authority (Volume III), Ottawa, 1999
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