Schofield reflects on time as Lt. Governor of Sask.

On Wednesday the woman who spent the last six years representing Queen Elizabeth II in the province and being addressed as ‘Her Honour’ will now go back to being simply Vaughn.

W. Thomas Molloy will take on the title of Lt. Governor of Saskatchewan at a swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday at the Saskatchewan Legislature. He takes over for Lt. Governor Vaughn Solomon Schofield who has held the honourary position since 2012.

On her last morning with the title, Her Honour joined the CJME Morning show to reflect on her time as Lt. Governor. She described her tenure over the past six years as ‘delightful’, noting she is particularly happy about her work on multiculturalism and with Indigenous people, seniors and military veterans.

“I’m pleased with what we did, certainly there’s lots more work to do and I’m sure that Tom Molloy going forward will pick up all of those,” she said.

For Schofield, recognizing military veterans for their service has been her personal mission long before she took on the role of Lt. Governor. When she lived in the U.S. she remembers how men and women in the armed forces were treated with so much respect when they returned from serving in wars.

“When I came back to Canada and our people were around or going off to war or coming back they didn’t get any of that. It was kind of like it was expected and there were no thank yous, no nothing so I thought that was wrong,” Schofield said, noting that she began working to try to change that around 1998.

“That’s been my mission for all those years and I hope to continue that mission. I think things have changed a lot. There is a lot more respect now and recognition, but we have a long way to go.”

Meeting Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace was another personal highlight for Schofield.

“Going into her private receiving room, that was so exciting. She was there at the door to greet us and it was just a warm half hour conversation. It was like talking to a friend or an aunt or someone that you’d known all your life. She just made you feel exactly right at home immediately and I was astounded at the things she knew about Saskatchewan, just a very smart lady.”

Schofield joked that she will have to adjust to not having people stand at attention when she enters a room anymore.

She plans to continue her work with the military as the Provincial Chair for Canadian Forces Liaison Council and Honourary Colonel of 38 Service Battalion. She also plans to do more volunteer work locally and perhaps look for an appointment on a board.

Molloy, who will take on the job as the 22nd Lt. Governor of Saskatchewan is a lawyer and treaty negotiator who worked on the creation of the territory of Nunavut. He is also a former Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan.