VICTORIA – Wearing a kilt representing the clan of a Scottish ancestor, Lieutenant Governor Steven Point ended his five-year term Thursday with a unique ceremony at the B.C. legislature.
In the ornate rotunda now decorated by his hand-carved dugout canoe, B.C.'s first aboriginal Queen's representative joined a choir and band to perform an original song he dedicated to the people of B.C.
Premier Christy Clark presented Point and his wife Gwendolyn with gifts, and Point was visibly moved when presented with a hand-crafted guitar made in Kamloops. Clark praised the couple for their work during the past five years, including a partnership with Rotary Clubs on literacy in remote B.C. communities.
Clark recounted Point's career, starting as a chief of his own First Nation, moved on to Grand Chief of the Sto:lo Tribal Council, earning two law degrees, becoming a provincial court judge, and serving as chief commissioner of the B.C. Treaty Commission before accepting Prime Minister Stephen Harper's invitation to serve as Lieutenant Governor.
"He set out to be a role model for First Nations people, to inspire young people, and he has reached that goal," Clark said.
Point praised Clark and said the country needs more women leaders, and also showed his penchant for humour.
"Well, it's all over," Point said. "I feel like Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz. I'm going to go home now."
Chilcotin rancher Judith Guichon is to be sworn in Friday as B.C.'s 29th Lieutenant Governor.