Hello, welcome to Politics Insider. Let’s look at what happened today.
Louise Arbour, a former Supreme Court of Canada justice who later served as a United Nations commissioner and prosecuted war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, has been named Canada’s new Governor-General.
“Canada is a wonderful country, shaped by its diversity of people of perspectives and experiences, but I think shaped also mostly by a common respect for strong public institutions and for the rule of law,” Arbour said today as Prime Minister Mark Carney announced her appointment in a news conference at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.
“Above all, we all thrive, strive to provide for each other in a spirit of equality and generosity. I’m very mindful of the legacy that I’m stepping into.”
Arbour succeeds Mary Simon, an Inuk and advocate for Inuit rights who became the first Indigenous person to hold the title when she was appointed by then-prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2021.
“As Mary Simon has, Louise Arbour will represent the best of Canada to Canadians and the world,” Carney told the news conference.
Arbour, 79, was born in Montreal. She taught at Osgoode Hall Law School and first became a judge in Ontario in the late 1980s. She was a justice on the Supreme Court from 1999 until 2004.
After retiring from the top court, Arbour worked as the UN high commissioner for human rights. Later, she was a special representative of the UN secretary-general for international migration, working on global migration policy.
She was the chief prosecutor in two UN international criminal tribunals, which investigated war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and in Rwanda. This led to the indictment of Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, the first such legal action against a sitting head of state by an international tribunal.
Starting in April, 2021, Ms. Arbour led an independent review of Canada’s Department of National Defence and the Armed Forces. In a report issued in May, 2022, she recommended reforms to address sexual misconduct and institutional culture.
Carney said Arbour’s career speaks to the approach she will bring to Rideau Hall, the official residence of the governor-general.
“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,” he said.
“Louise Arbour has held nearly every office a Canadian jurist can hold, and several that no Canadian had held before.”
In other news, Carney also said that any attempt by Alberta to separate from the rest of Canada must follow the strict rules set out by the Clarity Act.
Marieke Walsh and Stephanie Levitz report that Carney made the case that he can stop the secessionist push by demonstrating that the federation works.
On Monday, the leaders of Alberta’s separatist movement said they had gathered enough signatures to force a vote on whether the province should split with Canada in a referendum scheduled for Oct. 19.
The campaign could still be derailed by a legal challenge and an Elections Alberta investigation, but its leaders insist it has the credibility to move ahead to a general vote.
In the Prime Minister’s first public comments on the separatists possibly reaching the threshold for a referendum, Carney insisted that Ottawa would have a say in the crafting of the question that Albertans would vote on.
“There’s the rule of law. There’s the Clarity Act,” the Prime Minister said at an Ottawa press conference. “Any referenda in any part of Canada need to be consistent with that.”
Louise Arbour speaks after being named the next governor general during a news conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
What else is going on
NDP Leader working without salary while party figures out pay: Donya Ziaee, Avi Lewis’s communications director, said talks are under way to resolve the matter and acknowledged the state of the party, which suffered its worst result in the 2025 election, is a factor that will affect the leader’s pay.
Public-private health care model coming to Alberta breaches Canada Health Act, legal expert argues: A legal opinion on the issue, to be released today, was commissioned by the Canadian Health Coalition, an advocacy group focused on the preservation of universal health care.
Advocates call on Ottawa to commit to mandatory anti-drunk-driving technology in new vehicles: Representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving are meeting this week with government officials, including Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, seeking a commitment that Ottawa will make alcohol-detection systems mandatory.
Alberta-to-Wyoming pipeline close to reaching shipping commitment needed to move ahead, sources say: The pipeline, proposed by Canadian company South Bow Corp and its U.S. partner Bridger Pipeline, could increase Canada’s crude exports to the U.S. by more than 12 per cent if it goes ahead.
Canadians asked to complete government’s latest census: The federal Statistics Act states a census must be held every five years, and that every household and farm operator in Canada must participate.
On our radar
Prime Minister’s Day: In Ottawa, Mark Carney participated in a Sacred Bundle Ceremony with the National Family and Survivors Circle to commemorate the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQI+ People. Later, Carney announced that Louise Arbour is going to be Canada’s new Governor-General. And in the afternoon, he later attended Question Period.
Party Leaders: Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a news conference at the House of Commons on his party’s Opposition Day motion on urging the government to take action on mitigating the impact of unjustified U.S. tariffs. Meanwhile, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May’s commitments included a Parliament Hill breakfast to kick off Celiac Disease Awareness Month, attending the Commons in person, and co-hosting a reception for The Canada Green Building Council. No schedules released for other party leaders.
Quote of the Day
“Canada is a wonderful country, shaped by its diversity of people, of perspectives and experiences, but I think shaped also mostly by a common respect for strong public institutions and for the rule of law,” - Louise Arbour, Canada’s next Governor-General, at a news conference today, announcing her appointment.
Question period
After Louise Arbour is officially installed as governor-general in coming months, she will live and work at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. But the governor-general has a second residence. What is it called and where is it located?
Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for the answer.
Perspectives
Louise Arbour ticks every box for the job of governor-general
Bilingual? Check. Age-appropriate? Check. Constitutionally well-versed and responsible? Check. Someone with an impeccable career, who is a supporter of the key institutions in this country (particularly the Armed Forces) and who is, if not exactly an ardent monarchist, at least an upholder of the Crown’s role and rights in Canada? Check, check and check.
— John Fraser is the author of The Governors General: An Intimate History of Canada’s Highest Office.
High-food prices might be the most toxic form of personal-finance adversity in the past six years
For one thing, food inflation seems unstoppable, particularly with high oil prices driving up the cost of processing and transporting food.
— Rob Carrick, Personal Finance Columnist
Surveillance pricing is discrimination by another name
We don’t need to reinvent the regulatory wheel with complex new laws, nor dignify gouging with the language of innovation. Just don’t buy the claims of companies saying that surveillance pricing is in consumers’ best interest. The price of that is too high.
— Vass Bednar is the managing director of the Canadian Shield Institute and co-author of The Big Fix.
Go deeper
- Follow along for our stories on Canada-U.S. relations as news develops
- Get the latest insight and analysis from our political opinion writers
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
The answer to today’s question: There’s a residence for the governor-general in Quebec City at the Citadelle of Québec, a 19th-century fortress in the provincial capital.