Barn boss a referee and coach - The Western Producer

BRITISH COLUMBIA | LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
BY SHANNON MONEO
FREELANCE WRITER
VICTORIA —British Columbia’s
29th lieutenant governor is the second
woman to accept the role, but
she’s the first female rancher to hold
court since the position was formalized
in 1871.
Judith Guichon, who with her late
husband, Lawrence, owned the
Gerard Guichon Ranch in the Nicola
Valley, north of Merritt, has taken up
residence at Government House for
a five-year-term as the Queen’s representative
in B.C.
She has swapped 15,000 acres of
deeded and 65,000 acres of crown
lands, the 700 head cow-calf and 700
yearling operation and bed and
breakfast business for the 36 acre
property with elaborate gardens, a
three-storey manor featuring a 300
seat ballroom and full staff.
“This is a big change from the
ranch,” said Guichon, 65, who took
up her post Nov. 2, replacing Steven
Point, a former judge and First
Nations leader.
In early November, she hosted a
large dinner at Government House
honouring long-service provincial
government employees and earlier
that week was in Vancouver for an
emergency services event, just two of
the roughly 300 functions she will
attend each year.
Guichon wasn’t sure why she was
picked but she is aware that her
appointment was supported by federal
and provincial politicians from
various parties.
When prime minister Stephen
Harper’s office called her in September
to ask if she wanted to be B.C.’s
new lieutenant governor, she at first
thought it was a joke. Now, as she
settles into the position, Guichon
plans to take the job seriously.
“I hope I can help raise the level of
awareness of what agriculture does
for the country and how important it
is,” she said in an interview at Government
House.
That’s crucial for Guichon because
Canada needs to ensure it has the next
generation of farmers. Her family is
doing fine, with her son, Michael, and
daughter, Allison, and their families
running the ranch. Guichon has two
other grown children.
Lawrence’s descendants came from
France to the Cariboo goldfields in
1862 and arrived in the Nicola Valley
in 1866.
Having her children, the fifth
generation, take over is part of the
succession-retirement plan for
Guichon and her second husband
Bruno Mailloux, an invasive plant
specialist.
Guichon said it is crucial that people,
particularly in urban areas,
learn about the value of agriculture
and that it needs to be sustained.
When it come to farming and ranching,
distinct knowledge about individual
pieces of land isn’t something
that can be read in a book, she
added. It is learned by seeing and
doing.
“Every piece of property is so
unique,” Guichon said.
A steward of the land, Guichon said
urbanites, in particular young people
more interested in consumerism
and gaming, must learn that farmers
and ranchers provide more than
food and are more than peasants.
Clean air, clean water, new topsoil,
species habitat and carbon sequestration
are important things that
come from farms and ranches, she
said.
Guichon was born in Montreal and
raised on a farm near Hawkesbury,
Ont. She moved to B.C. in 1972. She
and Lawrence introduced holistic
land management practices to B.C.
ranchers. The third female president
of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association,
Guichon finished her twoyear
term in May 2012.
“Judy is an outstanding and dedi-
NEWS
Ranch owner heads to Government House
Judith Guichon | Lieutenant governor plans to highlight the importance of agriculture
cated person who has been a terrific
representative for B.C. ranchers,”
said Kevin Boon, BCCA general
manager.
In addition to championing agriculture,
Guichon intends to continue
the work of her predecessor, promoting
literacy and aboriginal reconciliation.
Guichon has served as a director for
the Fraser Basin Council of B.C.,
director of the Grasslands Conservation
Council of B.C., was a member of
the Nicola Water Use Management
Planning Committee, served on the
Provincial Task Force on Species at
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Risk and the British Columbia
Agri-Food Trade Advisory Council.
Guichon’s ranch was the first in
B.C. to allow the Burrowing Owl Conservation
Society of B.C. to re-introduce
threatened burrowing owls to
the ranch in 1992. One owl, born at
the ranch in 2002, recently turned up
in southern California, she said.
“The project’s doing very well.”
There will definitely be one reminder
that Government House is inhabited
by a rancher who happens to
have a chef with a cattle background.
Grass-fed, B.C. beef will be on the
menu, Guichon promised.
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Rancher Judith Guichon has been
named lieutenant governor of B.C.
| SHANNON MONEO PHOTO