Jeanne Sauvé (1922 - 1993)

Jeanne Sauvé was a journalist, politician, and stateswoman who liked to challenge the establishment. She was Canada's first woman Governor General, one of the three first women members of Parliament to be elected from Quebec, the first woman federal cabinet minister from Quebec, and the first woman Speaker of The House of Commons.

• She was one of Canada’s first female political correspondents. She hosted a CBC radio show called Femina, and a TV show called Opinions, that talked about taboo subjects at the time.
• She was applauded for modernizing the administrative and financial management of the House of Commons. For example, she convinced politicians to clear their own plates in the Commons cafeteria and instituted the first daycare on Parliament Hill.
• In 1984 she became Canada’s first female Governor General (representing the Queen of England in Canada), even though she openly declared that the monarchy should be abolished.
• Sauvé was born in a Fransaskois (francophones living in Saskatchewan) community and grew up in Ottawa.
• Sauvé favoured themes of peace, national unity and youth. In 1989, she founded the Sauvé Foundation, a ten million dollar fund dedicated to the cause of youth excellence in Canada and that is today headed by her son, Jean-François.