page_title: David Johnston
section_title: First months
hierarchical_section_title: David Johnston / Governor General of Canada / In office / First months
caption_attribution_description: English: Estonian Ambassador Marina Kaljurand in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, presenting her credentials to Canadian Governor General David Johnston. Eesti: Eesti suursaadik Kanadas Marina Kaljurand andis Ottawas Kanada kindralkuberner David Johnstonile üle oma volikirja. 1.12.2011 Français&#160;: Ambassadeur d'Estonie Marina Kaljurand à Ottawa (Ontario, Canada), présentant ses lettres de créance au gouverneur général du Canada David Johnston.
context_page_description: David Lloyd Johnston PC CC CMM COM CD FRSC FRCPSC is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada from 2010 to 2017, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the newly created Leaders' Debates Commission and is Colonel of the Regiment for the Royal Canadian Regiment.
  Johnston was born and raised in Ontario, studying there before enrolling at Harvard University and later Cambridge and Queen's universities. He went on to work as a professor at various post-secondary institutions in Canada, eventually serving administrative roles as dean of law at the University of Western Ontario, principal of McGill University, and president of the University of Waterloo. At the same time, Johnston involved himself with politics and public service, moderating political debates and chairing commissions in both the federal and provincial spheres, his most renowned position in that field being the chairmanship of the inquiry into the Airbus affair.
context_section_description: Johnston's swearing-in took place on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, on October 1, 2010. At his request, the ceremony included Johnston and his wife meeting 143 Canadians (one for each year passed since Confederation), especially from the Canadian Forces and young people, and collecting 26 red and white roses from 13 individuals, one from each of Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories. On the return coach ride from Parliament Hill to Rideau Hall, the viceregal couple stopped to lay the bouquet at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
  One of Johnston's first duties as governor general was to perform the rare task of revoking the commissioning scrolls of an officer of Her Majesty's Canadian Forces, on October 22, 2010, at the direction of the Chief of the Defence Staff, stripping the recently convicted murderer and rapist Russell Williams of his rank of colonel and releasing him from duty under "service misconduct". On November 4, the Governor General made his first visit to Afghanistan to meet with Canadian troops serving there and the Afghan forces they were training; similar visits to Afghanistan followed through Johnston's tenure, including a Christmas spent with Canadian Forces personnel stationed at Camp Alamo and Camp Black Horse, as did meetings with members of the military in other locations overseas.
  Johnston undertook his first state visits in February and March 2011, journeying to Kuwait (to attend its 50th Independence Day and take part in the celebrations of the fifth anniversary of the accession of Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah) and Qatar. He then, in April of the same year, attended the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton and the reception at Buckingham Palace that followed. In late June, he hosted the couple at various events during their tour of Canada.
  The speech Johnston delivered on August 14, 2011, to the Canadian Bar Association's annual meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, attracted media attention for its criticism of the legal profession: the Governor General lamented unnecessary and deliberate legal delays across Canada, the role of unscrupulous American lawyers in the unfolding of the global financial crisis, and said the profession was losing the public's trust. These comments were noted for being unusually controversial for a viceroy, but Johnston's colleagues and the editorial board of The Globe and Mail found the Governor General's words to be both unsurprising and welcome.
  In keeping with his focus on education, the Governor General, beginning in his early months in office and continuing throughout his time there, visited a number of universities across Canada, attending conferences, delivering lectures, and speaking at convocations. He also carried this theme on during his state and official visits to foreign countries, including in his itinerary, among other events, tours of early education facilities, delivering addresses at universities and colleges, and meetings with economic and social development groups, as well as education ministers. He was also sometimes accompanied by Canadian university and college presidents.
caption: Johnston with Marina Kaljurand, Ambassador to Canada for Estonia, at Rideau Hall, December 1, 2011
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