2 October 2017

Julie Payette installed as Canada's new Governor General

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada. Photo credit: Sgt Johanie Maheu, Rideau Hall © OSGG-BSGG, 2017.

Julie Payette was today installed as Canada's 29th Governor General in a ceremony which took place inside the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. The ceremony started at 10.55 a.m. local time. According to the press release, the ceremony was to be followed by military honours and the inspection of a guard of honour outside of Parliament (12.15 p.m.). Ms. Payette will then lay flowers at the National War Memorial (1.45 p.m.), before arriving at Rideau Hall, the official residence and workplace of the governor general in Ottawa (1.55 p.m.). The day will conclude with an evening reception at the Canadian Museum of History (7 p.m.).

Payette replaced David Johnston, who was installed as Governor General on 1 October 2010. Johnston bid farewell at a ceremony last Thursday. His term was originally meant to expire in 2015, but was extended with two years. Payette, b. 1963, is a businesswoman and a former astronaut and engineer. She has been married twice and has one son.

In connection with Payette's installation, her coat of arms was unveiled.

© The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General. Copy of the version at gg.ca.

Arms: Per pale Azure and Sable a wing and in the canton the Royal Crown Argent.

Crest: A musical stave bearing the first notes of the second movement of Alessandro Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in D minor Sable; Motto: PER ASPERA AD ASTRA, meaning “Through hardship to the stars”.

Supporters: Two lynx Sable embellished Argent each wearing a collar set with laurel leaves Or and mullets Argent, and standing on the planet Earth Azure, its atmosphere Argent, charged with the Greek letter sigma (Σ) Argent.

More information about the coat of arms can be found at the website of the Governor General's Office.

The national coat-of-arms of Canada. Photo taken inside Parliament Hill in 2008.

 Parliament Hill, Ottawa.


 Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada.

Well, just to prove that I have been there!

Last five photos: © 2008 Dag Trygsland Hoelseth.

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