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Adrienne Louise Clarkson (born 10 February 1939) is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who, until 27 September 2005, served as the Governor General of Canada. She was appointed as such by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, on the recommendation of then Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, to replace Roméo LeBlanc as viceroy. The official announcement of the appointment was made on 8 September 1999, and Clarkson's investiture as the 26th governor general since Confederation took place on 7 October 1999.
Clarkson was a refugee/immigrant from Hong Kong, coming to Canada in 1941, and was raised in Ottawa, Ontario.
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Quotations
As a woman, I fear that the gradual Americanization of our society might mean that I could not get on a subway alone.
I am above politics.
Clarkson, Adrienne
Our problem with the U.S. is not insufficient access; it is debilitating dependence.
European countries are basically tribal. The French, Germans, and Italians are tribes... racism can arise in a country like that. ... We Canadians are not a tribe. We are a series, a group, a conglomeration of people. ... That is a positive thing in many ways.
Encyclopedia
Adrienne Louise Clarkson (born 10 February 1939) is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who, until 27 September 2005, served as the Governor General of Canada. She was appointed as such by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, on the recommendation of then Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, to replace Roméo LeBlanc as viceroy. The official announcement of the appointment was made on 8 September 1999, and Clarkson's investiture as the 26th governor general since Confederation took place on 7 October 1999.
Clarkson was a refugee/immigrant from Hong Kong, coming to Canada in 1941, and was raised in Ottawa, Ontario. After receiving a number of university degrees, Clarkson worked as a producer and broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), as well as working as a journalist for various magazines. Her first diplomatic postings came in the early 1980s, when she promoted Ontario culture in France and other European countries. While her appointment as the Canadian viceroy was initially and generally welcomed, Clarkson caused some controversy during her time serving as the Queen's representative, mostly due to costs incurred in the operation of her office, as well as a somewhat republican attitude towards the position.
On 3 October 2005, Clarkson was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, giving her the accordant style of The Honourable; however, as a former governor general of Canada, Clarkson is entitled to be styled for life with the superior form of The Right Honourable.
Family and early life
Clarkson's ancestry lies with the Hakka in Taishan, Guangdong, China, from where her paternal grandfather (?? Pinyin: Wu Péi) emigrated in the late 19th century to Australia and operated in Chiltern, Victoria, a general store called "Willie Ah Poy Fruiterer and Confectioner". Ah Poy was his name in the vocative based on the Taishanese pronunciation; when he had arrived in Australia, Willie was asked for his name, to which he responded: "Ng Wui Poi," from which the officials took Poi to be his family name, resulting in the recorded name Poy.
Willie's eldest son, William Poy (??? Pinyin: Wu Yingcái), was born in Victoria, but was later sent back to Taishan, from where he made his way to Hong Kong. There, he worked with his father for the Canadian government, and met and married Ethel Poy. The couple then had two children: Neville, born 29 October 1935, and Adrienne, born 10 February 1939. Her brother went on to become a plastic surgeon in Toronto, and married Vivienne Poy, who herself became a Senator.
Clarkson describes one of her earliest memories as being that of hiding in her parents' Hong Kong basement during the Japanese invasion of the territory in 1941. It was only through his Canadian government connections that William gained his family the opportunity in 1942 to flee the occupation to Canada, as part of the repatriating of Canadian government staff from the fallen city. Even so, the Chinese Immigration Act, 1923, prevented the Poys' immediate entry into the country until the Department of Foreign Affairs intervened and cited an unfilled quota in the prisoner of war exchange programme with the Japanese Imperial Forces that would permit the Poy family free passage into Canada, after which the family settled in Ottawa. William, however, had lost almost all of his substantial fortune, and the Poys lived in a cramped apartment.
Education and first marriage
Clarkson studied at Ottawa public schools until graduating from Lisgar Collegiate Institute in 1956. She then enrolled at the University of Toronto's Trinity College, during which time she won a Governor General's Medal in English, before graduating in 1960 with an Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in English, and travelled with her parents to East and Southeast Asia. She then went on to obtain her master's degree in English literature, also at the University of Toronto.
She began post-graduate work in 1962 at the Sorbonne, with a thesis on the poems of George Meredith, and the following year, married Stephen Clarkson, a University of Toronto political science professor. Together, the couple had three daughters: Kyra, born in 1969, and twins Blaise and Chloe, born in 1971; however, at the age of nine months, Chloe died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Adrienne and Stephen divorced four years later, with Stephen being awarded full custody of the two surviving children, and, subsequently, Stephen's second wife, Christina McCall, adopted the two girls; an arrangement that led to the two girls becoming estranged from their mother for a number of decades.
Journalism
in Toronto.]]
After being introduced by a college friend in 1964 to the producers of Take Thirty an afternoon variety show run by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Clarkson was hired by the Crown corporation as a freelance book reviewer. This marked the start of her nearly 20 year career with the CBC, as, after less than a year in her initial position, Clarkson was promoted to co-host, thus becoming one of the first members of a visible minority to obtain a prominent position on Canadian television. She remained with Take Thirty for a decade, while also branching into print journalism by becoming a regular contributor to such publications as Maclean's and Chatelaine. Similarly, Clarkson wrote and published her own romantic fiction novels: A Lover More Condoling in 1968, and Hunger Trace in 1970. Beyond these, her non-fiction book True to You in My Fashion: A Woman Talks to Men About Marriage a collection of interviews with men on the subject of divorce was published in 1971, during which time her first marriage had hit a hard patch.
In 1974, Clarkson began her own public affairs television show Adrienne at Large, though this was not particularly successful and lasted less than four months. Still, the series allowed her to travel extensively outside of Canada, as she recorded segments for the show in locations such as South Africa (where she interviewed Nadine Gordimer and Helen Suzman), and her native Hong Kong. With the cancellation of Adrienne at Large, the CBC created in 1975 the hard journalism programme the fifth estate, as a means for meeting Canadian content requirements. Clarkson was brought on to co-host the show with Warner Troyer for the first season; but, due to persistent problems between the two, Troyer left the series, leaving Clarkson to host alone thereafter. She focused on investigative journalism, and gained prominence after an in-depth study of the McCain family's business practices led a senator to accuse her of being unnaturalised.
In 1983, after winning several ACTRA Awards, Clarkson ended her job with The Fifth Estate, shortly after which she was appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, John Black Aird, on the advice of his premier, William Davis, as the Agent General for Ontario in France. In this role she acted as a cultural liaison between the province and the country, as well as promoting Ontario in several other European states. After five years at this post, she went on to become President and Publisher of McClelland and Stewart, at a time when the publisher was in financial difficulty. Clarkson, who proved unsuccessful at improving the company's financial problems, and was highly unpopular with employees, resigned after 18 months that saw several protest resignations. The imprint Adrienne Clarkson Books does remain with McClelland and Stewart, however.
Clarkson then opted to return to television, hosting Adrienne Clarkson Summer Festival in the summer of 1988. The series was popular enough to be picked up and repackaged as Adrienne Clarkson Presents, an arts show which was critically acclaimed, but which never received high ratings. Regardless, after four years of hosting this show, Clarkson was appointed as an officer of the Order of Canada for her long media career, which included hosting more than 3,500 television programmes, as well as assisting charitable organisations such as the Kidney Foundation of Canada, Horizons of Canada, and International PEN. Further, as host and executive producer of Adrienne Clarkson Presents, she received numerous Gemini Award nominations winning in 1993 for best host in a light information, variety, or performing arts programme or series and was the 1995 recipient of the Donald Brittain Award, a special award given every year for the best social/political documentary program. In the same year, she also won a Gémeaux Award (the French-Language equivalent of a Gemini) for Adrienne Clarkson Presents. Still, her precise diction and sometimes haughty demeanour became the occasional subject of satire, most famously in the CBC Radio series Double Exposure, where co-creator Linda Cullen mimicked Clarkson with the line: "I'm Adrienne Clarkson, and you're not" (derived from Chevy Chase's early Saturday Night Live refrain).
Throughout the 1990s during which time she also wrote and produced films, such as The Lust In His Eye: Visions of James Wilson Morrice and Borduas and Me and Artemisia there was much speculation that Clarkson would soon be given a high level appointment. This was finally realized in 1995 when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and then Heritage Minister Michel Dupuy advised Governor General Roméo LeBlanc to appoint Clarkson to the chair of the board of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and later, to the Canadian War Museum as well, all while she continued to host her show. It was during Clarkson's time that the War Museum announced the decision to build the building which now houses its collection, and which Clarkson opened as governor general in May 2005.
Governor generalship
Clarkson was the first visible minority to be appointed governor general, as well as the second female (after Jeanne Sauvé), the first Chinese Canadian, and the first without a military or political background. She was also the first, and thus far only, governor general to have been appointed to the Order of Canada prior to taking office. Clarkson brought with her a new approach to the governor generalcy, and dedicated much of her self imposed mandate to drawing national attention to Northern Canada.
As Governor General-Designate
Along with the 8 Septemnber 1999 announcement from the prime minister's office that Queen Elizabeth II had, by commission under the royal sign-manual and signet, approved Clarkson as her representative, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien revealed that, with Clarkson being accompanied to Rideau Hall by her long time partner, John Ralston Saul, the official appointment was bringing an unofficial pair to the viceregal post, in that the Governor General would not be the only person actively exploring Canadian theory and culture.
Debate was soon initiated over whether or not Rideau Hall would become home to "two left-wing, intensely nationalistic zealots" or "two confidently humane advocates of the new Canada"; for instance, the headline of the National Post read: "Activists to move into Rideau Hall," and the accompanying editorial painted Clarkson as a divisive figure, despite her non-political background. Clarkson herself mused before her installation that "standing apart from the everyday political fray does not mean not having ideas," and, while some felt Saul posed the greatest risk of a breach of viceregal impartiality, others thought Clarkson would win hearts through her experience as a performer. There was speculation, however, that Clarkson's aloof demeanour would hinder her ability to reach out to Canadians, and the The Globe and Mail's Jan Wong penned a piece that attacked Clarkson for, in Wong's interpretation, "being a phoney Chinese" with disdain for her Asian heritage, and who had abandoned her daughters. The latter statement brought into the open Clarkson's personal issues regarding the estrangement of her children, which Clarkson discussed, to an extent, in pre-viceregal installation interviews.
The circumstances of her relationship with Saul, in which the couple had lived together unwed for 15 years, also clashed with the propriety of viceregal office, and the two were urged by the Prime Minister to marry prior to Clarkson's swearing-in. This they did on 31 July 1999, in a ceremony conducted by the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, then Michael Peers. Soon after, on 28 September, Clarkson and Saul were together invited for an audience with the Queen at Balmoral Castle.
As Governor General
, in the creation of which Clarkson assisted, and which she dedicated in May 2000.]]
On 8 October 1999, Clarkson was sworn in as the 26th governor general of Canada, and was soon actively participating in her role, becoming immediately instrumental in the final stages of the repatriation of Canada's unknown soldier from France. Her eulogy read at the tomb's dedication ceremony on 28 May 2000 was described by the Royal Canadian Legion as "powerful", and led journalist John Fraser to state: "You have to go back pretty far to find anyone who stirred national emotions the way Clarkson did with her magnificent speech..." In the same vein, after a decade of inaction on the part of the Cabinet, Clarkson moved to have the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry honoured with the Commander-in-Chief's Unit Commendation, on behalf of the Queen.
Following the terrorist attacks United States on 11 September 2001, Clarkson praised Operation Yellow Ribbon, saying "communities across the country selflessly opened their homes and hearts to stranded air travellers," and, on 14 September 2001, presided over a memorial service on Parliament Hill for the victims of the attacks, and which was attended by over 100,000 people the largest single vigil ever seen in Canada's capital. On the Cabinet's advice, she subsequently dispatched Canadian soldiers to assist in the invasion of Afghanistan, and in her role of representing the Queen as Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces, visited in 2002 the Canadian troops serving in the Afghan theatre of war. This trip, plus similar ones she undertook during her tenure such as those to Kosovo to meet with Canadian troops, to the Persian Gulf to spend Christmas with members of the Armed Forces on a Canadian destroyer, and again to Afghanistan to spend New Year's with Canadian soldiers won her acclaim for being the first governor general since at least 1945 to take seriously the duties associated with the commander-in-chief title, which was credited for helping to boost pride in the Canadian Forces.
However, criticism soon ensued over the way her office spent Crown funds, as, during her tenure, spending at Rideau Hall increased 200%; the budget for 2003 was estimated at CAD$41 million. Part of this increase was due to accounting reasons: several costs associated with the viceroy that had formerly been covered by various government ministries were transferred to the Governor General's office, such as bodyguard services. But, the event that the media mostly focused on was Clarkson's 2003, 19 day circumpolar "northern identity" tour, which included state visits to Russia, Finland, and Iceland, and the attendance of 50 other Canadians who were prominent in their various fields of arts, culture, and science. In an atmosphere tainted by several scandals around high spending in the government notably, the sponsorship scandal and the lavish expense claims of Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski the trip's estimated CAD$1 million cost was attacked as a waste of money. This, plus the general increase in spending around the viceregal office, resulted in some politicians calling for the role of the Governor General to be reduced or even for the position to be eliminated, and a poll taken late in 2003 found a majority of Canadians thought Clarkson was "too grand" for the office. In an unprecedented move for a viceroy, Clarkson, and not her ministers, personally addressed the controversy, explaining that she had been asked to undertake the state visits. Still, though the Office of the Governor General defended the tour as successful, particularly with regard to the warm reception Clarkson received in Russia and during her meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, and it had been the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade which commissioned and paid for the trip with funds approved by the parliament, the end cost came in at CAD$5 million, and a scheduled continuation of the tour that would have included visits to Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Greenland was scrapped by the federal government in early 2004.
(at right) greet then President of Russia, Vladamir Putin, and his wife, Lyudmila Putina, at Rideau Hall, 18 December 2000.]]
From that time on, Clarkson and her office faced intense scrutiny. By November 2004, it was announced that Clarkson's budget would be cut by ten percent, despite the fact that it has been parliament itself that had approved her budget each year. Then, in March 2005, she again faced questions about spending after it was reported that she had been advised by her then prime minister, Paul Martin, to make official visits to Spain, the Netherlands, and Russia in order to attend the state funeral of the victims of the Madrid terrorist bombings, the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands, and participate in Victory in Europe Day celebrations in Moscow, respectively. Clarkson waited until less than two weeks after the end of her time serving at Her Majesty's Pleasure as Governor General, before she publicly criticised Jean Chrétien and the Cabinet under his chairmanship, for not defending the viceregal office, and reaffirmed that she had been asked by the Department of Foreign Affairs to take her state trips in the first place.
At the same time, Clarkson's unorthodox mode of exercising the office of governor general led to negative critiques of how she carried out a number of ceremonial duties. In June 2004, the Governor General and her office were targeted by Canadian monarchists, who noted that during a ceremony to recognize Canada's involvement at Juno Beach in the D-Day landings of 1944, Clarkson's office claimed that she was attending as Canada's head of state, when in fact the Queen, who was also attending the ceremony, serves as such, and should have been treated as the senior official in attendance. The Queen, however, was not accorded such a position, and was relegated to third place in precedence behind Clarkson and Saul. Government House later retracted the statement, saying that it was the error of a junior official, though why the protocol had been altered was never explained. At Remembrance Day ceremonies, the Governor General also caused a stir when she eschewed the tradition of placing the first wreath at the cenotaph in favour of doing so simultaneously with her husband; a practice that was discontinued by Clarkson's successor as viceroy. Then, during a visit to Vancouver in September of the same year, Clarkson was booed and hissed at by a small, though vocal, group of protesters. She was on a goodwill tour of a poor area of the city; however, the protesters argued that her visit was nothing more than a publicity stunt to try and gain some of her lost popular support to get her time in office extended.
In January 2005, disappointment was expressed over Clarkson's non-attendance at a memorial service for Alberta's late lieutenant governor, Lois Hole. Rideau Hall issued a statement saying that Clarkson could not attend because she was out of the country to represent Canada at the inauguration of the President of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko; however, the inauguration was postponed, and it was felt that Clarkson could have returned to Canada for the service. When it was later reported by the Toronto Sun and The Globe and Mail that, after the postponement of the inauguration, Clarkson would base herself in Paris until a new inauguration date was set, more outrage was expressed in the press. Further confusion was then created when Rideau Hall informed the public that the Governor General was also to attend an audience with the Queen at Sandringham House, stating that this dinner had been a "long-standing engagement", thus contradicting reports in the press that sources at Buckingham Palace had said the dinner was actually booked at the last minute. In response, some monarchists began lobbying Clarkson to resign if she had willingly used the Queen for publicity and damage control purposes.
Regardless of the controversies, Clarkson was asked, and agreed, to remain in the Queen's service for an additional year beyond the traditional, but not official, five year period. Though the decision was met with mixed feelings from across the country, Prime Minister Martin had advised the Queen to retain Clarkson as her viceroy in order to provide stability as the country faced potential constitutional difficulties arising from a minority government; there had been wonder at the end of 2004 about whether or not Clarkson would have to become directly involved in politics should the Cabinet led by Paul Martin lose the confidence of the house, leaving the Governor General to decide whether or not to ask the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, then Stephen Harper, to form a government, or to call a general election. Ultimately, circumstances played out so that Clarkson's personal involvement was rendered unnecessary.
Soon after, however, on 8 July 2005, Clarkson was admitted to hospital in Toronto in order to have a pacemaker implanted. She recovered quickly, and returned to her viceregal duties in the same month. To coincide with that year's 50th anniversary of the appointment of the first Canadian-born governor general, Clarkson moved Order of Canada investitures from their typical location in Rideau Hall to various places around the country. Also, on 23 July 2005, Clarkson was inducted as an honorary member of the Kainai Chieftainship, during a traditional ceremony held at Red Crow Park, near Standoff, Alberta, after which she was adopted into the Blood Tribe with the name Grandmother of Many Nations. This made Clarkson the first governor general since Edward Schreyer, in 1984, to be made an honorary chief, and only the third woman to be inducted since the creation of the Chieftainship. Then, on 15 September 2005, Clarkson announced the creation of the Governor General's Northern Medal, to be be awarded annually to a citizen whose actions and achievements had contributed to the evolution and constant reaffirmation of the Canadian North as part of the national identity.
During her last days in office, Clarkson's popularity with the Armed Forces was expressed in a large farewell ceremony mounted by the military; the first ever such send-off for a governor general. Similarly, on the morning of 26 September 2005, Clarkson attended a celebration on Parliament Hill in which members of the House of Commons thanked her for her work, presented her with the viceregal flag that flew atop the Peace Tower when Clarkson was present in parliament. Then, following tradition, Clarkson and Saul planted on Rideau Hall's grounds, two ceremonial trees (swamp white oaks) to mark the end of the former's time in office. The day following, Clarkson's time as viceroy ended when her successor, Michaëlle Jean, was sworn in as Governor General of Canada. However, Clarkson caused yet another controversy when she decided, with Jean's consent, to attend Jean's investiture, marking the first time in more than a century that a governor general had attended the swearing-in of his or her successor.
Legacy
Clarkson was seen as having brought new life to the viceregal post of governor general, and, through her first years in office, was praised as being a more modern governor general who brought more public attention to the position than in preceding decades. She was further credited for breathing new life into the Canadian monarchy as a whole; Michaëlle Jean recognised Clarkson as having "infused the office with a new energy," for "promot[ing] artists and their achievements from across Canada," and for her "close work with aboriginal communities," and Mailo' Ken Wiwa, son of Ken Saro-Wiwa, stated in The Globe and Mail: "That Adrienne Clarkson, once a refugee, represents the Queen here in Canada is, for me, the singular most important reason for believing that the monarchy is relevant to Canada's emerging identity. Her role may only be ceremonial and symbolic, but as the enduring quality of the Royal Family attests, you can never underestimate the power of myth. Even or rather, especially in this iconoclastic age." Clarkson and her husband also travelled across Canada and met more Canadians than any other governor general in Canadian history, and, unlike many other state figures, Clarkson also wrote most of her own speeches, which were noted for being simultaneously intellectual and approachable. Clarkson's tenure was also notable for her patronage of all the arts making such efforts as ensuring the Governor General's study at Rideau Hall had copies of every book that had won the Governor General's Awards for literature and for sports, as demonstrated in her creation on 14 September 2005 of the Clarkson Cup for women's hockey in Canada.
Other summaries of Clarkson's time as governor general, however, found that she had succumbed too easily to the desires of her advisors both in the Prime Minister's and Privy Council Offices, as well as amongst the staff of Government House to turn the viceregal post into something it was not: Canada's head of state. Though Clarkson had expressed admiration for the Queen, and was said to understand "the lustre the Crown affords... and shudders a little in sympathy with members of the Royal Family at the degree of intrusion into their lives they must bear these days," the associated increased travel abroad had attracted to the post of governor general negative attention over costs, had caused conflict between domestic duties and foreign obligations, and the systematic downplaying of the monarch had led to confusion over who was head of state. There was also a sense that Clarkson and her office, in viewing the position of governor general as that of Canada's head of state, were overturning the long-standing theory that it was the monarch who reigned consistently over all regions of the country, thereby rendering all the viceroys, and their respective jurisdictions, as equal. When Clarkson attended a provincial occasion, her protocol officers insisted that she take precedence over the pertinent lieutenant governor, and denied knowledge of the established order in which the lieutenant governor, as a direct representative of the Queen in a province, at a provincial function takes precedence over all others, save the monarch. These situations would result in "precedence battles", in which the provincial authorities would frequently acquiesce to pressure and ultimata from Rideau Hall. The Monarchist League of Canada even reported that a member of parliament had telephoned to ask if they had ever before heard of the eruption of booing at the mention of the Governor General's name, as had apparently happened in the MP's riding when Clarkson was spoken about.
Post viceregal career
After leaving Rideau Hall, Clarkson and Saul purchased a new home in Toronto's The Annex district, taking possession at the end of September 2005. Clarkson then worked towards founding and co-chairing the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, and signed a deal with Penguin Canada to publish her memoirs in two books. The first book, Heart Matters, was published in September 2006, making Clarkson the third former governor general to release an autobiography, the first being Harold Alexander, Earl Alexander of Tunis, and the second being Vincent Massey.
In Heart Matters Clarkson outlined in the first half of the book her childhood in Ottawa, and her career in the CBC, while the second half covered her time as governor general, and contained her own positive views of Jean Chrétien, and negative views of Paul Martin. She also expressed her opinion that in future the name put forward to the Queen for appointment as governor general should be voted on in the House of Commons. The book was met with mixed reviews, however; etiquette experts in the United Kingdom chided Clarkson for her condescending criticisms of the Queen's behaviour at a dinner party, and of the Queen Mother for having used different china settings throughout a formal meal, calling Clarkson "prissy", and Rex Murphy deemed Clarkson as hypocritical for claiming a governor general must adhere to tradition and discretion, all in a book that reveals intimate and judgemental details about certain personages, and released mere months after she left the office. While monarchists condemned her suggested alterations to the selection process for the Governor General, claiming that an apolitical post should not be filled in a political manner, Maclean's supported her call for an elected nominee for governor general. Then, during an October 2006 interview on CBC Newsworld with Don Newman, Clarkson expressed her views on the nature of the position of governor general of Canada, stating that while the Queen remained popular with Canadians, the Governor General was now the direct representative of "the Crown", and not of the Queen, therefore making the viceroy Canada's actual head of state. This was a theory contrary to those of Eugene Forsey, the government of Canada itself, and numerous others, but was inline with Edward McWhinney.
Clarkson was appointed by the Queen as Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on 7 February 2007, replacing Countess Mountbatten of Burma, and commenting that she was "deeply honoured" and proud to accept the role. The ceremony to mark her appointment took place on 17 March 2007, at the Regimental Headquarters in Edmonton.
Religion
A member of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Clarkson is a devout Anglican, as is her entire family going back five generations, with her uncle being a priest in the Anglican Church in Hong Kong. Clarkson attended Trinity College at the University of Toronto because it was an Anglican institution, and, while there, she casually dated divinity student Michael Peers, who would later become an Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada. This friendship was maintained over the years, and Peers presided over Clarkson's marriage to Saul, officiated at her installation as governor general, and presided over the funerals of both her parents. Clarkson is also credited for returning prayer to the viceregal installation ceremony, which had been removed when Roméo LeBlanc was installed in 1995.
Clarkson was admired by the faithful for being open about her faith during her time in Rideau Hall. In a December 2005 interview with the Anglican Journal, she was quoted as saying about the Anglican elements of her heraldic arms that "I am an Anglican and that is part of my life; that I really feel at home in the Anglican Communion." In this same interview, she criticized conservatives for creating what she called the "deep divide" in the Anglican church regarding homosexuality.
Clarkson was also noted for visiting Anglican churches around Canada on her many visits, saying that she enjoyed seeing how the church fit in communities in all parts of Canada. Her public faith, like much of her term, had its run-ins with controversy: She took particular criticism when she was seen taking communion in a Catholic church since that denomination does not permit open communion.
Titles, styles, honours, and arms
Titles
10 February 1939 1963: Miss/Madam Adrienne Poy 1963 1975: Missus/Madam Adrienne Clarkson 1975 7 October 1999: Miss/Madam Adrienne Clarkson 7 October 1999 27 September 2005: Her Excellency The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada 27 September 2005: The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
Clarkson's style and title as governor general was, in full, and in English: Her Excellency The Right Honourable Adrienne Louise Clarkson, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada, and in French: Son Excellence la très honorable Adrienne Louise Clarkson, chancelière et compagnon principale de l'ordre du Canada, chancelière et commandante de l'ordre du mérite militaire, chancelière et commandante de l'ordre du mérite des forces de police, gouverneure générale et commandante en chef du Canada. It should be noted that, for Clarkson, Commander-in-Chief was strictly a title, and not a position that she held; the actual commander-in-chief (who can also be, and is, called such) is perpetually the monarch of Canada.
In her post-viceregal life, Clarkson's style and title is, in English: The Right Honourable Adrienne Louise Clarkson, Companion of the Order of Canada, Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, and in French: la très honorable Adrienne Louise Clarkson, compagnon de l'ordre du Canada, commandante de l'ordre du mérite militaire, commandante de l'ordre du mérite des forces de police.
Unofficial
Alberta
Grandmother of Many Nations
Honours
Appointments
30 April 1992 8 October 1999: Officer of the Order of Canada (OC)
8 October 1999 27 September 2005: Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada (CC) 27 September 2005: Companion of the Order of Canada (CC)
1999: Lay Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada
8 October 1999 27 September 2005: Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM)
27 September 2005: Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM) 8 October 1999 27 September 2005: Dame of Justice, Prior, and Chief Officer in Canada of the Venerable Order of Saint John (DStJ)27 September 2005: Dame of Justice of the Venerable Order of Saint John (DStJ)
1999: Honorary Member of the Royal Military College of Canada Club
3 October 2000 27 September 2005: Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces (COM)
27 September 2005: Companion of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces (COM)
23 July 2005: Honorary Chief of the Kainai Chieftainship
3 October 2005: Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (PC)
Medals
1960: Governor General's Academic Medal
1967: Canadian Centennial Medal
1992: Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada
8 October 1999: Canadian Forces Decoration (CD)
2002: Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
Awards
1974: Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists ACTRA Award
1982: Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists ACTRA Award
1993: Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Gemini Award
1995: Gemeaux Award Meilleur
Award nominations
1992: Gemini Award: Best Host in a Light Information, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series for Adrienne Clarkson Presents1993: Gemini Award: Best Performing Arts Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents - shared with Gordon Stewart1994: Gemini Award: Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents1994: Gemini Award: Best Host in a Lifestyle Information, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series for Adrienne Clarkson Presents1995: Gemini Award: Best Performing Arts Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents1998: Gemini Award: Best Performing Arts Program or Series, or Arts Documentary Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents: Black and White to Colour: The Making of "The English Patient"1998: Gemini Award: Best Performing Arts Program or Series, or Arts Documentary Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents
Foreign honours
2003: Order of Friendship
Honorary military appointments
8 October 1999 27 September 2005: Colonel of the Regiment of the Governor General's Horse Guards
8 October 1999 27 September 2005: Colonel of the Regiment of the Governor General's Foot Guards
8 October 1999 27 September 2005: Colonel of the Regiment of the Canadian Grenadier Guards
7 February 2007: Colonel-in-Chief of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry
Honorary Degrees
7 April 2000: University of Victoria, Doctor of Laws (LLD)
2001: McGill University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)
27 February 2003: Law Society of Upper Canada at Osgoode Hall, Doctor of Laws (LLD)
2003: Queen's University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)
10 June 2004: Concordia University, Doctor of Laws (LLD)
16 May 2008: Mount Saint Vincent University, Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD)
Acadia University
Dalhousie University
Lakehead University
University of Ottawa
University of Western Ontario
University of Prince Edward Island
Bishop's University
Honorific eponyms
Awards
Clarkson Cup
Ontario: Adrienne Clarkson Laureateship, Massey College, Toronto
Schools
Ontario: Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School, Barrhaven
Ontario: Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School, Nepean
Ontario: Adrienne Clarkson Public School, Richmond Hill
Arms
See also
Footnotes
External links
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