Role
The position of the viceregal consort carries no official duties and receives no salary. However, consorts have held and do hold a prominent and visible position in the Canadian affairs of state, taking part in official occasions, such as the Speech From the Throne and Order of Canada investitures, and national celebrations, such as Canada Day events on Parliament Hill, as well as both welcoming foreign dignitaries to Canada and accompanying the governor general on state visits abroad. These practices evolved from the original role as the hostess of the royal and viceroyal residences in Ottawa (Rideau Hall) and Quebec City (La Citadelle), a tradition maintained only by female viceregal consorts, who oversee the planning of ceremonies and functions of state that take place at either of the official residences.
Over the course of the 20th century, it became increasingly common for viceregal consorts to select and pursue on their own initiative various charitable projects. Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, whose husband served as governor general during the Second World War, volunteered her time to the war effort in Canada, especially women's organisations such as the Royal Canadian Air Force Women's Division. The activities chosen are typically apolitical and non-divisive. However, some consorts have stirred controversy through their work; Jean-Daniel Lafond, who promoted Canadian art—film in particular—and involved himself in the Francophone community, made a documentary while viceregal consort that attracted criticism from the National Post that Lafond had shown strong anti-Americanism and had been sympathetic to an admitted assassin.
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—Marilyn French (b. 1929)
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“Language makes it possible for a child to incorporate his parents’ verbal prohibitions, to make them part of himself....We don’t speak of a conscience yet in the child who is just acquiring language, but we can see very clearly how language plays an indispensable role in the formation of conscience. In fact, the moral achievement of man, the whole complex of factors that go into the organization of conscience is very largely based upon language.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)