Carney picks former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour to be governor general: sources UPDATED

Last edited Tue May 5, 2026, 11:37 AM - Edit history (2)

Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to name former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour as Canada's next governor general, according to sources speaking to CBC's French-language service, Radio-Canada.

Carney is picking a francophone with a long legal resume that includes stints prosecuting war crimes in Rwanda and Yugoslavia and serving as the UN human rights commissioner.

Arbour will serve as the King's representative and the commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces, replacing Mary Simon whose five-year stint as the first Indigenous governor general is due to end soon.

more to come

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/louise-arbour-governor-general-9.7187976

I am over the moon with this pick, I have admired Madame Arbour since her time as Chief Prosecutor on International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. She had also been the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a Canadian Supreme Court Justice.

I can't offer enough praise for her, she has been and continues to be a Canadian treasure, imo.

Edited to add the update:

snip

Arbour is one of the most celebrated jurists of her time.

snip

She has received 42 honorary doctorates and is already a Companion of the Order of Canada — the country's highest honour — in recognition of her pioneering legal work here and around the world.

snip

A long-time defender of civil liberties, Arbour's new role follows her hard-hitting 2022 probe into sexual harassment in the military in which she condemned what she described as its "toxic" culture of misogyny and the "glorification of masculinity." Her work prompted a change in how the military she now commands prosecutes misconduct.