A remarkable year in the life of Lt.-Gov. Jocelyne Roy Vienneau
Vice-regal couple recount a challenging year
Few people have been at the centre of as many important New Brunswick stories this year as Jocelyne Roy Vienneau.
From the floods of spring to the constitutional challenges following the fall election, the lieutenant-governor and her husband, Ronald Vienneau, have been involved in a series of public and private challenges over the past 12 months.
"It was a challenging year, a year full of ups and downs," Roy Vienneau admits. "And not just for myself and my husband, but also for New Brunswickers."
Like many living along the St. John River, the couple watched nervously as rising spring floodwaters threatened to engulf their official residence in Fredericton.
While they didn't risk the loss of their own home, proximity to the river gave them a taste of what other families were experiencing — the drama punctuated by moments of courage and kindness.
"For me it's always the same thing," said Roy Vienneau. "It's about the way that New Brunswickers always help one another. That's what we see during a crisis like that.
"People coming from the north to help people in the south. The resilience of New Brunswickers and the way they are helping one another, and they care for one another."
I discovered that regardless of language or culture or where you were born, New Brunswickers are people that like to celebrate.- Jocelyne Roy Vienneau, lieutenant-governor
Vienneau is used to challenges.
As the first Acadian woman to hold the job of Queen's representative in New Brunswick, the "LG" as she's known by staff, has a long list of achievements.
A native of Robertville, she is one of the first women to earn a degree in engineering at the University of Moncton.
She was vice-president of the university's Shippagan campus, held a variety of positions at the Bathurst campus of the New Brunswick Community College and served as the province's assistant deputy minister for post-secondary education.
Even so, her favourite phrase appears to be "I learned so much!"
"I discovered places in New Brunswick that I have never seen before. Incredible, small places and people also. I discovered that regardless of language or culture or where you were born, New Brunswickers are people that like to celebrate. "
350 appearances a year
We're seated in the sun-drenched library of Government House, a favourite room for the couple to sit and catch their breath from a relentless schedule.
It was always going to be a busy year.
With more than 350 public appearances, the role of lieutenant-governor is not for the faint of heart.
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It was in this room one day last May that Roy Vienneau and her husband were working with staff on plans to host a vice-regal conference the following month when they received some shocking news. Roy Vienneau had been diagnosed with cancer.
"We were busy, and thank God we were busy because it kept my mind to other things than myself. I was not focusing on me, I was focusing on the job. And for me it's very important — I'm a very technical person, so I have to be busy all the time.
"So I think that's what helped me, because I was busy."
Not one to rest
Ronald chimes in, as he often does, with his own perspective.
"When we first heard about the fact that she was sick, her doctors told her 'You know you will have to find the time to relax, because you know, resting will be very important, you know.' But you can't, you just can't with her because it's all go, go, go."
That energy appears undiminished even after several rounds of chemotherapy have vanquished the cancer.
The only outward sign of treatment so far is a selection of stylish, close-fitting hats Roy Vienneau wears to cover the loss of hair. The chemo treatments ended before Christmas. The new year will bring a round of radiation therapy.
"I'm fine really," she says. "I feel very fortunate because I know there are many people who go through chemo and they have a difficult time. But it's not my case, and I feel very lucky."
That relentlessly cheery demeanour is a hallmark, and a protective shield, for a couple whose chief role is to identify and celebrate the best qualities of New Brunswickers.
It came in handy during the month of August, when a multiple shooting in Fredericton left two police officers and two other citizens dead. The bloodshed stunned the population and catapulted the province into global headlines.
Constable Robb Costello was a regular visitor to Government House for medal ceremonies and the annual Police Exemplary Service evening. Roy Vienneau was asked to speak at the memorial service for both officers.
"The service itself was very moving and I appreciate that they asked me to speak. It was difficult to speak at that occasion, so humbling to see the families, the resilience of those families, and to see the sons of the police. It was really a humbling experience."
There was little time to grieve.
Within weeks the province was pitched into an election with results that would once again put Roy Vienneau at the very centre of the action.
A nail-biter of an election night presented a constitutional drama — with both Liberal and Progressive Conservative leaders claiming victory. The results sent constitutional experts scrambling for historical precedents and parliamentary procedures.
We were ready. We had different scenarios, none of which was the scenario we got. But we were close so we knew exactly what to do.- Jocelyne Roy Vienneau
"Oh my God, that was, well, it was kind of a learning process for myself and I think for New Brunswickers as well, because I learned a lot."
Roy Vienneau played a pivotal role as constitutional arbiter, meeting discreetly with Premier Brian Gallant and agreeing to his request to attempt to form a government.
When the Liberal throne speech was defeated, Roy Vienneau met with PC Leader Blaine Higgs to invite him to govern the province.
"When you are taking this job as LG they are telling you there will be a lot of ceremonial roles and everything, and you know the job, opening the legislature, the speech from the throne, you know that when you are taking the job.
"But what you don't know are the fine details of the Westminster system, that you have to use the procedures, the rules and regulations that you have to use when you have a minority government."
Through a stroke of luck, Roy Vienneau was ahead of the game. The vice-regal conference she hosted earlier in the summer had focused on minority governments and the parliamentary rules and procedures they entail.
"We were ready. We had different scenarios, none of which was the scenario we got. But we were close, so we knew exactly what to do. So for me it was a learning process and it was a remarkable experience."
Roy Vienneau has learned much about herself too. She admits the role of lieutenant-governor has changed her.
Ronald breaks in to add, "and speaking English too, because before she never had a chance to speak English. You know when she first got here. So she improved an awful lot."
Roy Vienneau also celebrated the arrival of a second grandchild in September — an event that has led her to reflect on her own priorities. Appointed by the Governor-General at the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, her term ends in September 2019, unless the current prime minister asks her to stay for another five-year term.
Given her continuing cancer treatments and new grandchild, would she stay?
"Yes, I would. I would like to serve the people of New Brunswick, but I would also like to spend more time with my grandchildren."
"I'm doing more short term [planning] instead of long time plans. Of course, I still have longtime plans, I will always as long as I live I will.
"But it's more important to be with my family, to be with, to enjoy, my grandchildren. That's important, that's very important."