Brenda Murphy
{{Short description|Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick since 2019}}
{{for|the Irish playwright|Brenda Murphy (playwright)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = The Honourable
| name = Brenda Murphy
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|ONB|OStJ|size=100%}}
| image = Brenda Murphy throne speech (cropped).jpg
| caption = Murphy in 2020
| order = 32nd
| office = Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
| term_start = September 8, 2019
| term_end = January 22, 2025
| monarch = {{plainlist|
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| governor_general = {{plainlist|
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| premier = {{plainlist|
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| predecessor = Jocelyne Roy-Vienneau
| successor = Louise Imbeault
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|60|2019|9|5}}
| birth_place =
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Brenda L. Murphy {{post-nominals|country=CAN|O.N.B.|D.St.J.}} (born 1959) is a Canadian activist and politician who served as the 32nd lieutenant governor of New Brunswick, from 2019 to 2025.Alexander Quon, [https://globalnews.ca/news/5875844/brenda-murphy-sworn-in-lt-gov-nb/ "Brenda Murphy officially sworn in as lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick"]. Global News, September 9, 2019.
Career
She formerly served as a municipal councillor in Grand Bay–Westfield and served as the executive director of the Saint John Women's Empowerment Network in Saint John, best known for her advocacy on poverty and domestic violence issues.[https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2019/09/05/womens-advocate-brenda-murphy-named-new-lieutenant-governor-of-new-brunswick.html "Women’s advocate Brenda Murphy named new lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick"]. Toronto Star, September 5, 2019. She served on a federal advisory council on poverty, and on New Brunswick's advisory council on the status of women.{{cite news |title=Women's advocate Brenda Murphy named new lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick |url=https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/women-s-advocate-brenda-murphy-named-new-lieutenant-governor-of-new-brunswick-1.4579602 |accessdate=September 9, 2019 |work=CTV News Atlantic |agency=Canadian Press |date=September 5, 2019}}
= Lieutenant-governor =
Since September 8, 2019, she has served as lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. She is both the province's first openly LGBT lieutenant governor and the first openly LGBT person to hold any viceregal office in Canada.Bobbi-Jean Mackinnon, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-lieutenant-governor-brenda-murphy-1.5271662 "Brenda Murphy 'humbled' to be appointed New Brunswick's new lieutenant-governor"]. CBC News New Brunswick, September 5, 2019.
In April 2022, the Court of Queen's Bench of New Brunswick ruled that her appointment as lieutenant governor violated the bilingual status of the province under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, since Murphy is unilingual English-speaking.{{cite web |date=14 April 2022|title=Appointment of unilingual N.B. lieutenant-governor violated charter, judge rules|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-lieutenant-governor-brenda-murphy-1.6420040|author-last=Poitras|author-first=Jacques|access-date=16 April 2022 |work=CBC News}} However, in May 2024, the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick overturned this judgment.{{cite web |last1=Poitras |first1=Jacques |title=N.B. Appeal Court says lieutenant-governor is not required to be bilingual |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lg-bilingualism-top-court-ruling-1.7212324 |website=CBC News |access-date=23 May 2024 |date=23 May 2024 |quote=But the appeal court says the Charter doesn't specify a right to "speak" to the lieutenant-governor herself in English or French, only to communicate with her office.}}
On November 15, 2024, Louise Imbeault was announced as Murphy's replacement.{{cite news |last1=Farley |first1=Sam |title=Louise Imbeault named next lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/louise-imbeault-named-lieutenant-governor-1.7384999 |access-date=November 16, 2024 |work=CBC News |date=November 15, 2024}}
Honours and awards
| +Ribbon Bar of Brenda Murphy |
| class="wikitable"
|Ribbon |Description |Post-nominal letters |Notes |
| 100x100px
| Dame of Justice of the Order of St. John |D.St.J |
| 100x100px
|Chancellor of the Order of New Brunswick |O.N.B |
| 100x100px
|Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal | |
| 100x100px
|King Charles III Coronation Medal | |
Personal life
Murphy lives in Grand Bay–Westfield. Her partner Linda Boyle has accompanied her on official engagements, including a visit to King Charles III at Buckingham Palace in November 2022.The Royal Family, Court Circular, 30 November 2022
Arms
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Brenda Louise Murphy Escutcheon.png
|escutcheon = Per bend wavy Or and Purpure a bend wavy counterchanged between in chief an orca enarched Purpure embellished Argent and in base semé of mayflowers Argent seeded Or.
|crest = A butternut tree Or leaved Purpure fructed Argent issuant from a circlet Or the upper rim set with purple violets Proper.
|motto = Every Voice Matters{{cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/public-register/project/3348 |publisher=Canadian Heraldic Authority |accessdate=15 August 2023 |title=Brenda Louise Murphy}}
|supporters = Two snow geese Argent beaked and legged Or their exterior wings elevated and embellished standing on a cable ferry Purpure its railing Argent issuant from a bar wavy Argent charged with a barrulet wavy Purpure.}}
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:21st-century Canadian politicians
Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians
Category:Canadian women viceroys
Category:Canadian LGBTQ rights activists
Category:Canadian women's rights activists
Category:Canadian anti-poverty activists
Category:Canadian lesbian politicians
Category:Lieutenant governors of New Brunswick
Category:New Brunswick municipal councillors
Category:People from Kings County, New Brunswick
Category:Women in New Brunswick politics
Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Category:Officers_of_the_Order_of_St_John
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