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On May 5, the Canadian Prime Minister announced his selection of Canada's new Governor General: Louise Arbour. The Governor General serves as the representative of the Canadian Crown, (currently King Charles III), and acts as head of state on the monarch's behalf. They typically serve five-year terms. Carney has been under pressure since he took office to appoint a French-speaking governor general, as the current governor general, Mary Simon, does not speak French. Mary Simon became the first Indigenous governor general when she was appointed by Justin Trudeau in 2021.
Who is Louise Arbour
Luise Arbour, 79, carries a seriously impressive legal resume, both at the National and international levels. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Arbour began her career as a Research Officer at the Law Reform Commission of Canada, before joining Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, where she taught and later became Associate Dean. Professionally, Arbour served on the Supreme Court of Ontario beginning in 1987, and remained in the role for three years before being appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario.
From 1996 to 1999, Arbour served as Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Arbour is credited for making history for the first-ever indictment of a sitting head of state, former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milošević, as well as her prosecution of sexual assaults as crimes against humanity. While in the role, she also secured the first conviction for genocide since the 1948 Genocide Convention in the case of Rwanda by successfully convicting Rwandan mayor Jean-Paul Akayesu of genocide on Sept. 3, 1998.
Arbour left her UN post when former prime minister Jean Chrétien appointed her to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999 and shifted her focus back to national issues. She served on the Supreme Court of Canada until 2004, with her views on the law sometimes ostracising her from her colleagues. One of the most dramatic examples was in 2003 when Arbour suggested the constitutionality of convicting a person for possession of the drug marijuana was an affront to their liberty. Fifteen years later, marijuana would be legalized in Canada, with Arbour's arguments being cited heavily in the discussion.
Louise Arbour left the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004 after five years of service. Her next role? United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In that role, she was controversial for all the right reasons. In 2005, she said that the US's ‘War on Terror' was trampling the UN's ban on torture. In the controversial statement, she called America ‘torturers'.
“Pursuing security objectives at all costs may create a world in which we are neither safe nor free. This will certainly be the case if the only choice is between the terrorists and the torturers.”
While the US ambassador to the UN criticized her remarks, she doubled down on the controversy. In 2006, Arbour called for international forces to protect civilians in Lebanon and Palestine, amidst violent attacks from Israel. While Israeli activists called her antisemitic, Arbour went public with a strong statement.
“International humanitarian law is clear on the supreme obligation to protect civilians during hostilities…. International law demands accountability. The scale of the killings in the region, and their predictability, could engage the personal criminal responsibility of those involved, particularly those in a position of command and control.”
In 2008, Arbour voluntarily left her role as High Commissioner for Human Rights. At age 61, she cited the relentless schedule as the reason for her departure. While some theorized that she left the role in fear of more controversy, she shot down those rumours, claiming, “I am not quitting because of this pressure. On the contrary, I have to resist the temptation to stay to confront it.” Her coworkers at the Human Rights Commission called her ‘inspiring'. Since 2008, Arbour has slowed down. She took a job as president and CEO of the International Crisis Group, a non-profit that works internationally to prevent and resolve conflicts and continued doing work to benefit civilians on a less-relentless pace.
In 2017, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Arbour to be his special representative for international migration. The role left her butting heads with Conservative leader Andrew Scheer due to his belief that Guterres's Global Compact for Migration would “give influence over Canada's immigration system to foreign entities”. The Conservative Party's own immigration minister dismissed the claims. In 2022, Arbour led a probe into sexual misconduct in the Canadian military and has been a supporter of immigration rights and 2SLGBTQ+ rights.
