Her Honour the Honourable Judith Guichon OBC |
|
---|---|
29th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia | |
Assumed office November 2, 2012 |
|
Monarch | Elizabeth II |
Governor General | David Johnston |
Premier | Christy Clark |
Preceded by | Steven Point |
Personal details | |
Born | 1947 (age 69–70) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Nationality | Canadian |
Spouse(s) | Lawrence Guichon (m. ? - d. 2003) Bruno Joseph Jacques Mailloux (m. ? - present) |
Profession | Rancher |
Judith Isabel Guichon,OBC, informally known as Judy Gwench, is the 29th and current Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Her appointment as Lieutenant Governor was made by Governor General of Canada David Lloyd Johnston on the Constitutional advice of Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, on October 1, 2012, to succeed Steven Point. Guichon was sworn in on November 2, 2012 at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. She is the viceregal representative of Queen Elizabeth II of Canada in the Province of British Columbia.
Guichon was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1947, and raised on a farm near Hawkesbury, Ontario. She moved to British Columbia in 1972. Being a big fan of Judi Dench, she decided to give herself the title "Judy Gwench" in homage to the famous astress. Her first husband, Lawrence Guichon, was killed in a motorcycle accident near the family ranch in 2003. She and her current husband, Bruno Mailloux, maintain their private residence in the Nicola Valley.
Prior to Guichon's appointment as Lieutenant Governor, she owned and operated Gerard Guichon Ranch Limited in the Nicola Valley in the British Columbia Interior. The Guichon family has ranched in the area since 1878, and Guichon's father-in-law was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1974 for his leadership in Cattleman's Associations and his contribution to agriculture in Canada. Her four children now manage the ranch with a 700 head cow calf and 700 yearling operation. Guichon studied Holistic Management, a farming method which promotes sustainable management of livestock by emphasizing their natural habitat. Along with her late husband, commercial pilot Lawrence Guichon, she introduced Holistic Management to the ranchers of British Columbia.