Nova Scotia welcomes former judge as first Acadian lieutenant-governor
Nova Scotia’s new lieutenantgovernor took office Wednesday, the province’s first Acadian to represent the Crown centuries after the Expulsion.
Arthur LeBlanc, sworn in as the 33rd lieutenantgovernor at Province
House, said the deportation of his ancestors is a dark period in Nova Scotia’s history but that the Acadians are a resilient people.
“It has taken time but Acadians have done very well in the province,” said LeBlanc, a 74-year-old soft-spoken man with a gentle demeanour sporting a paisley bow-tie and gleaming shoes.
“I see the future with a glass half-full outlook rather than glass half-empty,” he said before the ceremony.
“We can accomplish more by working positively for change.”
LeBlanc, who served as a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge for nearly two decades, was named lieutenant-governor by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month.
“My hope is that I will be able to listen attentively, speak softly and act judiciously,” he said.
Premier Stephen McNeil called LeBlanc a “first-class lawyer” and “distinguished jurist.”
“Throughout his legal career, (LeBlanc) has served his province and its people with distinction,” he said in a statement, wishing him “every success in his new role as the representative of Her Majesty the Queen.”