EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
Edith Dumont, Ontario's first francophone lieutenant-governor, took over from Elizabeth Dowdeswell, the province's longest-serving viceregal, at a Tuesday ceremony at Queen's Park.
She arrived at Queen's Park in a horse-drawn carriage escorted by a detachment of the Governor General's Horse Guards and was greeted by Premier Doug Ford, Speaker Ted Arnott, Cabinet Secretary Michelle DiEmanuele, among others.
Dumont's had a long career in education. She was a special education teacher, a principal, and an executive at the Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario (CEPEO), which is responsible for French-language public education in eastern Ontario. She left CEPEO in 2020 to work as a vice president at the Université de l'Ontario français, the province's first wholly francophone university established in 2018.
She highlighted her history in education as something she hopes to help guide her throughout her tenure and continue to promote. Aside from education, she said gender equity and respect for seniors will be big priorities for her going forward.
"I am advancing in age, too," she said in her speech, which got a good laugh from the crowd. "Which compels me to address the realities stemming from an increasingly aging population." No laughs for that line.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Dumont's appointment in August.
Dumont, who is King Charles III's representative in Ontario, was coincidentally sworn in on the monarch's 75th birthday.
One of Dumont's first tasks will be honouring the latest Order of Ontario recipients on Nov. 27, including NHL great Eric Lindros and Olympic gold medallists Christine Nesbitt and Andrew De Grasse.
