Extreme polarization and consensus are dangerous and a better country can only be built through the "peaceful management" of our differences, Gov. Gen. Louise Arbour said Monday in her first speech as the King's representative in Canada.
The former Supreme Court justice said our ability to coexist peacefully, despite our differences, is critical to maintaining a lawful, rules-based society.
"It is through our differences, and our fundamental right to express them, that we will nourish critical thinking, creativity and innovation," Arbour said from the throne in the Senate chamber.
"It is through our differences that we will build a common future."
Arbour, 79, said it's important to protect the arenas where those debates take place, such as universities, the media, courtrooms, legislative spaces and the arts.
"This is what it means to live under the rule of law, in an open society like ours," she said. "The purpose of law is not to restrain, but to construct a greater freedom for all.
"We have a constitutional and cultural framework that allows us to imagine, to explore, to innovate and to experiment. Our humour is grounded in self-deprecation. We believe in leading as a team.
"We do not mistake humility for weakness, nor do we measure a person's worth by the thickness of their wallet."
"We don't think we are perfect, but we believe we're pretty well on the way there," Arbour joked.
In her maiden viceregal speech, Arbour praised the strength and vitality of Canadian institutions as she took the helm of one of the country's oldest.
The official duties of a governor general include serving as commander-in-chief of Canada — which includes awarding military honours — swearing cabinet ministers into office, proroguing and dissolving Parliament, making appointments on the prime minister's advice and granting Royal Assent to turn bills into law.
While the role is often seen as ceremonial, the office of the governor general links the House of Commons to the Crown and is critical to how Canada's democracy functions.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said in his own speech that Arbour exemplifies the best of Canada.
"Canadians entrust the Governor General to defend our institutions, to uphold our core values of liberty, fairness, solidarity and sustainability, to represent our ambition to build a stronger, fairer country for all," he said.
"These duties call for sound judgment, deep learning, and an unwavering commitment to the rule of law, the very principles on which our new Governor General, Her Excellency Louise Arbour, has built her exceptional career."
Arbour's installation ceremony included all the trappings of appointing a new viceregal — from being led into the Senate by Usher of the Black Rod Greg Peters, Parliament's senior protocol officer, to taking possession of the Great Seal of Canada. The seal is used to authenticate government documents and make them official.
While the ceremony is steeped in Westminster traditions, some of which predate Canada, Arbour spent part of her speech discussing one of the most portentous societal and technological shifts since the Industrial Revolution — the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.
Arbour cautioned in her speech against overreliance on the technology. She said the convenience it offers should not lead anyone to overlook the "profound societal shifts" that are coming.
"With instant access to vast amounts of information, it's very tempting to pay little attention to the reliability of sources. The lines between knowledge and belief, between truth and falsehood, between facts and assumptions are increasingly blurred," she said.
"AI could be threatening not only the way we live and work, but also the control we exercise over our own destiny."
She said the challenge must be met by strong institutions and a private sector that "upholds the standards of integrity that Canadians expect."
Arbour said young Canadians should realize how lucky they are to share this country, even as they're rightfully concerned about the challenges like climate change, wealth inequality and armed conflicts around the world.
She said that as the government undertakes "major initiatives to strengthen our economy" and defend the Arctic, "we must remain attentive to the rights of those directly affected, and we must always ensure a fair sharing of both burdens and benefits.
"Our collective security rests above anything else on the trust that we place in each other."
A 21-gun salute was fired from canons set up nearby on Parliament Hill as Arbour ascended the throne of the Senate — a symbol of the relationship between the Canadian Armed Forces and the viceregal office.
After the ceremony at the Senate concluded, Arbour walked over to the National War Memorial, where she performed her first of what will be many inspections of the guard.
She shook hands with onlookers at the fences set up around the Senate and memorial in downtown Ottawa.
Arbour also thanked outgoing governor general Mary Simon, Canada's first Indigenous viceregal, for serving in the role through the COVID-19 pandemic and economic upheaval, and for showing Canadians that reconciliation is a lifelong exercise.
Simon received a standing ovation in the Senate.
Rideau Hall issued a statement on Simon's behalf once the ceremony began. In it, she thanked Canadians and called on them to continue "building bridges of empathy and connection throughout our vast country."
"I believe in the importance of strengthening relationships and deepening understanding among all peoples, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike," Simon wrote.
"Reconciliation belongs to all of us. It is not only about acknowledging the past, but also about shaping our shared future. It calls for us to share our stories, to learn from one another, and sometimes to have difficult but necessary conversations. This is how we move forward together, in dignity and equality."
Arbour also touched on reconciliation in her speech when she said that Indigenous knowledge and tradition have been "long overlooked" and Canada needs to embrace a future "in which First Nations, Inuit and Métis people are no longer cast aside."
Chief Justice Richard Wagner read out the oaths that Arbour had to take to become governor general just before 10:30 a.m. EDT.
The installation ceremony included a performance by francophone artist Sara Dufour of the song "La Reine" by Les Cowboys Fringants. The song is about a woman who puts her service to others ahead of her own personal challenges. Anglophone artist Tyler Shaw also performed "Like Me and You" by Raffi at the ceremony.
Chimwemwe Undi, Parliament's poet laureate, read her poem "Reasons," which she wrote for the ceremony. A French translation of the poem was read aloud by a student from the Louise Arbour Elementary School in Ottawa.
Arbour had a distinguished legal career and served as chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. She made history when she became the first to indict a sitting head of state — Serbia's president Slobodan Milosevic — for crimes against humanity.
The Montreal native also secured the first conviction for genocide since the establishment of the 1948 Genocide Convention in the case of a former Rwandan mayor.
King Charles approved Arbour's appointment, the first since he took the throne in 2022.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
