By Joe Johnson (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 31, 2012
The Honourable Steven Point, as of November 1, will have served his five-year term as Lieutenant Governor of BC. This tops off a remarkable career that began at the age of 23 as a Skowkale First Nation Chief, and then saw him become Grand Chief of the Sto:lo Tribal Council. He’s also worked in law on First Nations issues, served as a provincial court judge, as well as a UFV professor for a short time. This interview took place two days before the end of his term.
How did your time as a [Skowkale] chief, if at all, shape what you brought to the Lieutenant Governor’s position?
Every Lieutenant Governor is different; they bring different skills and different backgrounds to the office. Of course, I’m First Nations. I’ve been able to make a canoe, for example, to give to the province of British Columbia. I was able to build a canoe and give it to the Navy as I was a Navy captain. We helped build a totem pole with Chief Tony Hunt, the Hosaqami pole, and we put that up here. And I carved the storyboard for the Government House on the salmon story, how the salmon got in the Fraser [River]. My time has been certainly informed here by my history and relationship as a First Nations person.
Your term ends in two days; what are some stories that you’ll take away?
Well I helped to establish a literacy campaign that brings books to isolated communities in the northern parts, coastal parts, of BC.
And we’re now bringing libraries out to many of these communities with the help of a company called Britco—a member of the Rotary clubs—who are assisting in bringing books out to isolated communities. It’s one of the great stories of my tenure here, is the literacy campaign. I’ve received thousands of stories from elementary schools, from hundreds of schools in BC, in my Right to Read program.
And then there’s the whole cadet, the sponsoring of the aboriginal cadet core, in Duncan, and I wrote a song called “British Columbia” which I’m giving to BC in a couple of days. Oh, there’s a lot of great stories. The canoe stories, the canoe journeys – it’s been a great time for us here. Five years has gone by very quickly.
Is it typically five years for each Lieutenant Governor or do some Lieutenant Governors have longer . . .
The constitutionality limit, the minimum limit, is five years. So you get appointed for a period of five years. Then it’s in the hands of government to find another person. Sometimes they take a few years longer. I know some Lieutenant Governors have been here for six, seven years rather than just the five. But the normal period is five years.
To start, how did you go from practicing law to Lieutenant Governor?
I was a judge, actually, in the provincial court, sitting in Abbotsford. I was approached by the federal [and] provincial government back in 2005 to become the Chief Commissioner of the treaty process as appointed by the federal and provincial government and all the chiefs in BC.
I don’t know what the process is, actually, for selecting the Lieutenant Governor. It was just something that somebody might have submitted my name, I don’t know, but all I know is I got a call from the Prime Minister’s office asking if I would do it.
It’s such an overlooked and, I think, maybe not a very well known position. What was the day-to-day life like?
As the head of government here in British Columbia the Lieutenant governor will meet [with], for example, foreign dignitaries that come in to take up office here in Vancouver. Many of the ambassadors have their offices in Ottawa and they have members that reside in different major cities, in Canada.
Before that, as a courtesy to British Columbia, they present themselves to the Lieutenant Governor and the Lieutenant Governor will meet with them and they will exchange gifts, have a photograph taken. It’s kind of an international protocol process and if the ambassador comes in from Ottawa, the ambassador will also come to Government House and meet the Lieutenant Governor.
In fact, on the first day the new Lieutenant Governor takes office, I think they’re meeting with representatives from Uganda. So that’s part of the official role; to be the person who greets international representatives.
Of course you’re signing documents from the cabinet, the Lieutenant Governor, most of the legislation for examples, boards for the universities, all of the commissioners, the police boards, they’re all appointed through the Lieutenant Governor’s office. All of the judges are appointed through the Lieutenant Governor’s office.
You’re doing an awful lot of work with the government. And then of course the Lieutenant Governor is a patron of over 120 different organizations in British Columbia, so the Lieutenant Governor’s expected to attend most of their functions throughout the year.
So any given day you could be signing documents for government, you could be meeting foreign dignitaries, [or] you could be attending different patronage functions.
The other thing that’s happened is that I was made an honorary captain for the Navy because the Queen is the head of the military in Canada. So the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and all of the cadet programs, they all invite you to all of their events. They have annual dinners, annual reviews, and so I act as reviewing officer for most of the military events that happen in BC.
I could go on and on and on. I attend probably up to 350 events a year on behalf of the Queen.
Where do you go from here?
Well I go back to Chilliwack—I live in Chilliwack—and hopefully go back to work as a judge. We’ll see what happens, but that’s what I’m hoping to do.
And are you going to miss the position of Lieutenant Governor?
Well it’s been a wonderful time. Of course, it’s so busy, you know? On the one hand, you’re living in a great house and you have great staff and whatnot. But on the other hand, it’s nice to go home. There’s no place like home, your own bed, and your own kind of world. Here in this office you belong to the office and your entire life is wrapped up in what you’re doing here. For five years you’re pretty much in harness. So I’m going to be glad to go home.
