Lise Thibault is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 civil servant who was appointed the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec

Lieutenant Governor of Quebec

The Lieutenant Governor of Quebec : Lieutenant-gouverneur du Québec, or : Lieutenant-gouverneure du Québec) is the viceregal representative in Quebec of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions...

 on January 30, 1997. As a former Vice-Regal

Viceroy

A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 representative of Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

, as Queen in Right of Quebec

Monarchy in Quebec

By the arrangements of the Canadian federation, Canada's monarchy operates in Quebec as the core of the province's Westminster-style parliamentary democracy and constitution. As such, the Crown within Quebec's jurisdiction is referred to as the Crown in Right of Quebec , Her Majesty in Right of...

, she is styled The Honourable for life.

Early life

Born in Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan

Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan, Quebec

Saint-Roch-de-l'Achigan is a Quebec municipality located in the Montcalm Regional County Municipality located in the Lanaudière region. It is on the banks of the Achigan River, a tributary of the L'Assomption River...

, Quebec, Thibault, she was the eldest daughter of Paul Trudel and Laurenza Wolfe. She was educated at the Académie Marie-Anne de Montréal, and then went on to teachers' college at Cégep de Saint-Jérôme

Cégep de Saint-Jérôme

The CEGEP of Saint-Jérôme or Cégep de Saint-Jérôme in French is a post-secondary education school in the Laurentides region of the province of Quebec- History :...

. She married married René Thibault in 1959.

Career

Thibault taught with the adult education department of the Milles-Îles

Mille-Isles, Quebec

Mille-Isles is a municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality, west of Saint-Jérôme.Mille-Isles is in the Laurentian Hills, crossed by rivers and dotted with fish-filled lakes.-History:...

 and Des Écores school boards from 1973 to 1978. She worked for
Télé-Métropole from 1977 to 1981. From 1982 to 1984 she was a host and researcher at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

 as for programs about family and community issues. She was the vice president for Quebec's Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) from 1987 to 1993. She was President and CEO of the Office des personnes handicapées du Québec from 1993 to 1995.

On the advice of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien

Jean Chrétien

Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....

, the Governor General appointed her Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, following the resignation of Jean-Louis Roux

Jean-Louis Roux

Jean-Louis Roux, CC, CQ is a noted entertainer and playwright, senator, and briefly the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, Canada.-Biography:...

 in 1997. She became Quebec's first female viceroy, and the first disabled lieutenant governor in Canada; Thibault was permanently disabled in a toboggan

Toboggan

A toboggan is a simple sled which is a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people down a hill or other slope for recreation. Designs vary from simple, traditional models to modern engineered composites...

ing accident as a teenager, and uses a wheelchair

Wheelchair

A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...

. In February 2005 Madame Thibault suffered a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

. She was one of the longest serving lieutenant governors in Canadian history, serving for over ten years.

Controversy

In 2007, she was accused of spending beyond the limits of her expense account. Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper

Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

 announced that he would recommend the appointment of a new Lieutenant Governor after the provincial election

Quebec general election, 2007

The Quebec general election of 2007 was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on March 26, 2007 to elect members of the 38th National Assembly of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party led by Jean Charest managed to win a plurality of seats, but were reduced to a minority government, Quebec's first in...

; it was said by the Prime Minister's Office that the decision to replace Thibault had nothing to do with her spending. The appointment of her successor, Pierre Duchesne

Pierre Duchesne

Pierre Duchesne is the 28th and current Lieutenant Governor of Quebec and former secretary general of the National Assembly of Quebec.-Biography:A licentiate in Law from Université Laval, Pierre Duchesne had been a notary in Sept-Îles in 1966....

, was announced on May 18, 2007. He was sworn in on June 7, 2007.

Questions on her spending continued after her departure, with federal and provincial auditors general pointing to $700,000 in unjustified expenses (CBC). The files were turned over to the Sûreté du Québec

Sûreté du Québec

Sûreté du Québec or SQ is the provincial police force for the Canadian province of Québec...

 (SQ) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 (RCMP) for investigation. She was criminally charged for offenses involving fraud, breach of trust, forgery and fabrication of false documents related to the misspending of public funds during her ten years in office.