Provincial court judge named B.C.'s lieutenant-governor

Steven Point, a provincial court judge andthe former chief of a Fraser Valley First Nation, has been appointed B.C.'s new lieutenant-governor.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the appointment in a statement Tuesday.

Point will replace Iona Campagnolo, who was appointed in 2001.

Point was appointed a provincial judge in February 1999, mostly sitting in Abbotsford, B.C. In 2005, he took up the role of chief commissioner of the British Columbia Treaty Commission.

He was chief of the Skowkale First Nation, just outside of Chilliwack in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, for 15 years between 1975 and 1999.

He also served as the tribal chair of the Sto:lo Nation from 1994 to 1999 and was honoured as grand chief by the chiefs of Sto:lo Tribal Council.

Born in Chilliwack, Point graduated with a bachelor of law degree from the University of British Columbia in 1985 and was called to the bar in the following year.

Point and his wife, Gwendolyn, have four children and nine grandchildren.