Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Name	Adrienne Louise Clarkson伍冰枝
Honorific-suffix	PC, CC, CMM, COM, CD, FRSC(hon), FRAIC(hon), FRCPSC(hon)
Order	26th
Office	Governor General of Canada
Term start	October 7, 1999
Term end	September 27, 2005
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Predecessor	Roméo LeBlanc
Successor	Michaëlle Jean
Primeminister	Jean ChrétienPaul Martin
Birth date	February 10, 1939
Birth place	Hong Kong
Spouse	Stephen Clarkson (1963-1975)John Ralston Saul (1999-)
Profession	Journalist
Religion	Anglican
Signature	Adrienne Clarkson SIgnature.svg

Adrienne Louise Clarkson (née Adrienne Louise Poy, February 10, 1939) is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation.

Clarkson was a refugee from Hong Kong, coming with her family to Canada in 1941 to settle and be raised in Ottawa, Ontario. After receiving a number of university degrees, Clarkson worked as a producer and broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and 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. She was in 1999 appointed as governor general by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Jean Chrétien, to replace Roméo LeBlanc as viceroy, and she occupied the post until succeeded by Michaëlle Jean in 2005. While Clarkson's appointment as the Canadian vicereine was generally welcomed at first, she 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 anti-monarchist attitude towards the position.

On October 3, 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. She subsequently published her memoirs, founded the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, and became Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

Family and early life

Clarkson's ancestry lies with the Hakka in Taishan, Guangdong, China, from where her paternal grandfather (伍培 Pinyin: Wǔ Péi) emigrated in the late 19th century to Chiltern, Australia. There, he operated a general store called Willie Ah Poy Fruitier and Confectioner, Ah Poy being his name in the vocative, based on the Taishanese pronunciation, and what Australian immigration officials heard Poy enunciate in response to their request for his name. Poy's first son, William (伍英才 Pinyin: Wǔ Yīngcái), 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, with whom he had two children: Neville, born October 29, 1935, and Adrienne, born February 10, 1939. The elder 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 that of hiding in several Hong Kong basements during the Japanese invasion of the territory in 1941. It was only through his Canadian government connections that her father 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 External 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. The family settled in Ottawa, though William had lost almost all of his substantial fortune, and the Poys lived in a cramped duplex.

Education and first marriage

, the women's college at the University of Toronto's Trinity College, where Clarkson enrolled in 1956]]

Clarkson graduated from Lisgar Collegiate Institute in 1956, afterwards enrolling at the University of Toronto's Trinity College. During her time there, Clarkson won a Governor General's Medal in English before graduating in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in the subject, and then travelling with her parents to East and Southeast Asia. Clarkson 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 in Paris, France, 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; at the age of nine months, however, 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, who eventually became estranged from their mother for several decades.

Journalism

After being introduced by a college friend in 1964 to the producers of Take 30 an afternoon variety show run by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Clarkson was hired by the Crown corporation as a freelance book reviewer. This marked the start of her nearly 30 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. The series did, however, allow 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 the show, 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 with Warner Troyer for the first season, but, due to persistent problems between the two, Troyer left the series, leaving Clarkson to host with Peter Reilly and Eric Malling 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 publicly accuse her of being un-naturalised. 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 honour given every year for the best social/political documentary programme. In the same year, she also won a Gémeaux Award (the French language equivalent of a Gemini) for Adrienne Clarkson Presents. Her precise diction and sometimes haughty demeanour did sometimes become the occasional subject of satire, however; 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 It was during this time that the War Museum announced the decision to build the structure 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 second person to have been appointed to the Order of Canada prior to nomination as governor general-designate, after Jules Léger. 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

It was on September 8, 1999, announced from the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada that Queen Elizabeth II had, by commission under the royal sign-manual and Great Seal of Canada, approved Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's choice of Clarkson to succeed Roméo LeBlanc as the Queen's representative. At that time, it was revealed that, with Clarkson being accompanied to Rideau Hall by her long time partner, John Ralston Saul, the official appointment would be bringing an unofficial pair to the viceregal post, Her eulogy read at the tomb's dedication ceremony on May 28, 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 Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry honoured with the Commander-in-Chief's Unit Commendation, on behalf of the Queen, On her cabinet's advice, Clarkson 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. 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.

More robust viceregal office

Clarkson took a proactive role in increasing the stature of the Canadian viceregal office, travelling widely, hosting lavish state events, and hosting conferences and forums. However, criticism soon ensued over the way her office was spending Crown funds, as, during her tenure, expenditures at Rideau Hall increased 200%; the budget for 2003 was estimated at CAD$41 million. Part of this increase was due to accounting reasons; some costs that had previously been worked into the budgets of ministries were transferred to the Governor General's office. 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 prominent in the fields of arts, culture, and science. In an atmosphere tainted by several spending scandals in the government, the trip's estimated CAD$1 million cost was attacked as a waste of money. All together, this 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 vicereine, Clarkson, and not her ministers, personally addressed the controversy, explaining that she had been asked to undertake the state visits by her prime minister. (at right) greet then President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and his wife, Lyudmila Putina, at Rideau Hall, December 18, 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 parliament itself 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 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 each of her state trips in the first place.

At the same time, Clarkson's unorthodox mode of exercising the Office of the 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, prior to the ceremony to recognize Canada's involvement at Juno Beach in the D-Day landings of 1944, Government House claimed that Clarkson would be attending as Canada's head of state and, at the event, the Queen, who also attended the ceremony, was relegated to third place in precedence behind Clarkson and Saul. Jack Granatstein alleged that this arrangement had displeased the Queen and "there was fury." Government House later retracted its head of state statement, saying that it was the error of a junior official, but why the protocol was 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 viceregal successor. Then, during a visit to Vancouver in September of the same year, Clarkson was booed and hissed at by a small but 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 further expressed over Clarkson's failure to attend a memorial service for Alberta's late lieutenant governor, Lois Hole. Rideau Hall issued a statement saying the Governor General was, at the time, abroad 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 Clarkson would wait in Paris, France, for the rescheduled presidential investiture, more outrage was expressed in the press, which was only compounded when Rideau Hall informed the public that the Governor General would also attend a "long-standing engagement" with the Queen at Sandringham House, contradicting reports that Buckingham Palace had said the dinner was actually booked at the last minute. In response, some monarchists began lobbying Clarkson to resign, had she willingly used the Queen for publicity and damage control purposes.

Extended tenure

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 vicereine in order to provide stability while the country faced potential constitutional difficulties arising from a minority government; there had been speculation at the end of 2004 over 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 of Commons, 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.

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 September 26, 2005, Clarkson attended a celebration on Parliament Hill in which members of parliament thanked her for her work and 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, and the next day, Clarkson's time as vicereine 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, 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." Clarkson was further praised for her devotion to the armed forces and remembrance, 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. 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, takes precedence at a provincial function over all other attendees, save for the monarch. These situations would result in "precedence battles", in which the provincial authorities would frequently acquiesce to pressure and ultimatums from Rideau Hall. Clarkson also took the place of the monarch in presenting to the next vicereine the Chancellor's insignia of the Order of Canada, thereby breaking the order's "first and oldest tradition"; a move Canada's expert on honours, Christopher McCreery, called "a rather bizarre turn of events." 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. 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 judgmental details about certain personages, and released mere months after she left the office.|group=n|name=Book2}} and her expressed opinion that future nominees for appointment as governor general should be voted on in the House of Commons was condemned by monarchists, though supported by Macleans.

During an October 2006 interview on CBC Newsworld with Don Newman, Clarkson spoke 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 monarch, 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. Into 2009, Clarkson continued to promote this notion, stating at a constitutional law conference that the governor general embodied the nation and the prime minister's nominee for the viceregal role should thus be vetted by a parliamentary committee, in a similar format to Congressional Confirmation Hearings in the United States. She then went further to say that the candidate should also submit to a televised quiz on Canadiana. Though a University of Toronto political scientist stated this would "strengthen the legitimacy of the governor-general as a non-partisan umpire," the editorial board of the Montreal Gazette said that the position being "not elected is an asset, not a handicap" and Clarkson's process would undermine the impartiality of the viceroy.

Clarkson was on February 7, 2007, appointed by the Queen as Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, replacing the Countess Mountbatten of Burma, and commented that she was "deeply honoured" and proud to accept the role. The ceremony to mark her appointment took place on March 17 at the regimental headquarters in Edmonton. Clarkson is also vice-chair of the board of directors of the dance company La La La Human Steps.

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 chose to attend Trinity College at the University of Toronto because of its Anglican associations, 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 religious beliefs 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 tours, saying that she enjoyed seeing how the church fit in communities in all parts of Canada. Her public faith, however, like much of her term, had its run-ins with controversy: She received 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

Name	Adrienne Clarkson(1999-2005)
Dipstyle	Her Excellency the Right HonourableSon Excellence la très honorable
Offstyle	Your ExcellencyVotre Excellence
Altstyle	Ma'amMadame

February 10, 1939 1963: Miss/Madamoiselle Adrienne Poy 1963 1975: Missus/Madam Adrienne Clarkson 1975 October 7, 1999: Miss/Madam Adrienne Clarkson October 7, 1999 September 27, 2005: Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada September 27, 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.

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.

Clarkson's post-nominal letters are, in order according to the Oxford University Calendar Notes on Style: PC, CC, CMM, COM, CD, BA MA Tor, BA(hc) Acadia, BA(hc) Dal, BA(hc) Lake, BA(hc) Ott, BA(hc) WOnt, BA(hc) PEI, BA(hc) Bishop, LLD(hc) Con, LLD(hc) McM, LLD(hc) McGill, LLD(hc) MtSV, LLD(hc) Osg, LLD(hc) Queen, LLD(hc) Vic

Unofficial

; Alberta

Grandmother of Many Nations

Honours

{| border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="center" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background:white; border: 1px #0047AB solid; border-collapse: collapse;" |- bgcolor="white" ! colspan="4" align="center"|Ribbon bars of Adrienne Clarkson |- | | | | |- | | | | |- | colspan="4" align="center"| |}

;Appointments April 30, 1992 October 8, 1999: Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) October 8, 1999 September 27, 2005: Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM)

September 27, 2005: Commander of the Order of Military Merit (CMM)

October 8, 1999 September 27, 2005: Dame of Justice, Prior, and Chief Officer in Canada of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (DStJ)

September 27, 2005: Dame of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (DStJ)

October 8, 1999 September 27, 2005: Chief Scout of Canada 1999: Honorary Member of the Royal Military College of Canada Club October 3, 2000 September 27, 2005: Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces (COM)

September 27, 2005: Companion of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces (COM)

2001: Grand croix du l'Ordre de la Pléiade de l'Association des parlementaires de langue française : Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (FRAIC(hon)) 1974: Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists ACTRA Award for Best Public Affairs Broadcaster

;Award nominations

1992: Gemini Award: Best Host in a Light Information, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series for Adrienne Clarkson Presents

1993: Gemini Award: Best Performing Arts Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents - shared with Gordon Stewart

1994: Gemini Award: Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents

1994: Gemini Award: Best Host in a Lifestyle Information, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series for Adrienne Clarkson Presents

1995: Gemini Award: Best Performing Arts Program for Adrienne Clarkson Presents

1998: 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 1993: Gabriel Award: Adrienne Clarkson Presents: For the Beauty of the Earth

Honorary military appointments

October 8, 1999 September 27, 2005: Colonel of the Regiment of the Governor General's Horse Guards October 8, 1999 September 27, 2005: Colonel of the Regiment of the Governor General's Foot Guards October 8, 1999 September 27, 2005: Colonel of the Regiment of the Canadian Grenadier Guards February 7, 2007: Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Honorary Degrees

April 7, 2000: University of Victoria, Doctor of Laws (LLD) 2001: McGill University, Doctor of Laws (LLD) February 27, 2003: Law Society of Upper Canada at Osgoode Hall, Doctor of Laws (LLD) 2003: Queen's University, Doctor of Laws (LLD) June 10, 2004: Concordia University, Doctor of Laws (LLD) November 2006: McMaster University, Doctor of Laws (LLD) May 16, 2008: Mount Saint Vincent University, Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) Acadia University Dalhousie University Lakehead University University of Ottawa University of Western Ontario

;Schools : Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School, Barrhaven : Adrienne Clarkson Elementary School, Nepean : Adrienne Clarkson Public School, Richmond Hill

Arms

Notes	Just prior to her installation as Governor General, Clarkson was granted a personal coat of arms that depicted her Chinese roots as well as her adopted Canadian life.
Year adopted	October 1, 1999
Crest	A loon (Gavia immer) calling proper naiant within a circlet of trillium flowers Argent seeded Or
Escutcheon	Gules a Chinese phoenix regarding a lightning flash and rising from flames issuant from a maple leaf the whole ensigned by a representation of the Royal Crown all Or
Supporters	Two tigers Or and Argent embellished Sable each gorged with a ribbon Gules, pendant therefrom a plate surmounted by a cross Gules
Compartment	Rocks set with four wind-swept jack pines proper
Motto	VERUM SOLUM DICATUR, VERUM SOLUM ACCIPIATUR(May only the truth be spoken, may only the truth be heard)
Orders	The ribbon and insignia of a Companion of the Order of Canada.DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM(They desire a better country)
Symbolism	The phoenix blends the symbolism of Clarkson's Chinese roots with that of the bird rising from the ashes, which stands for the Poy family rebuilding their lives in Canada, as embodied in the maple leaf. Further, the phoenix, whose form was proposed by Dr. Suan-Seh Foo, and is modelled on a fabric decoration from the Qing Dynasty, embodies the female principle, and represents virtues in both Eastern and Western cultures: justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance in Western mythology, and benevolence, righteousness, reverence, wisdom, and trust in Eastern mythology. The lightning flash stands for Clarkson's career as a television journalist, and the royal crown embodies the governor general's service as the sovereign's representative.

See also

Chinese Canadian

Immigration to Canada

Refugee > World War II and UNHCR

Notes

Footnotes

External links

Website of the Governor General of Canada entry for Adrienne Clarkson

The Canadian Encyclopedia entry for Adrienne Clarkson

2005}} |-

Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:Anglo-Catholics Category:Canadian writers of Asian descent Category:Canadian Anglicans Category:Canadian autobiographers Category:Canadian novelists Category:Canadian television personalities Category:Canadian people of Hong Kong descent Category:Canadian women writers Category:Companions of the Order of Canada Category:Fellows of the Royal Conservatory of Music Category:Governors General of Canada Category:Gemini Award winners Category:Hong Kong expatriates in Canada Category:Hong Kong immigrants to Canada Category:Taishanese people Category:Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada Category:People from Ottawa Category:People from Toronto Category:Recipients of the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal Category:Royal Military College of Canada people Category:Trinity College (Canada) alumni Category:University of Paris alumni Category:University of Toronto alumni