Prime Minister Carney names former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour as next governor general
Posted May 5, 2026 10:39:32 AM.
Last Updated May 5, 2026 12:09:47 PM.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has named retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour as Canada’s next governor general.
The accomplished former jurist is fluently bilingual, and has served as UN human rights commissioner and chief prosecutor at The Hague.
Arbour was chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and made history when she became the first to indict a sitting head of state, president Slobodan Milosevic, for crimes against humanity.
“Her work matters in and of itself, it also tells us something about what Louise Arbour will bring to Rideau Hall — the conviction that institutions are the load-bearing walls of a civil society and that they remain trustworthy only as long as someone is willing to hold them accountable,” Carney said on Tuesday.
Arbour will become Canada’s 31st since Confederation and is expected to be installed as Governor General in early June.
“Canada is shaped by a common respect for strong institutions and the rule of law,” she said. “We all try to provide for each other in the spirit of equality and generosity.”
The governor general is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the prime minister and usually holds office for five years.
Arbour will replace Canada’s first Indigenous governor general, who will reach the five-year mark of her tenure in July.
Following controversy over Simon’s struggles with French, Carney said the next viceregal representative would speak both official languages. Simon speaks English and Inuktitut and has improved her French but she is not fluent, despite taking lessons.
