Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson will arrive in Whitehorse today and will be presiding over a citizenship ceremony tomorrow at the Yukon government administration building.

The ceremony will see 31 new Canadians granted citizenship status.

This ceremony usually takes place on July 1. However, Angela Battiston, a B.C.-Yukon Citizenship and Immigration spokesperson, said today when the department learned Clarkson had travel plans to the Yukon, officials contacted her and asked for her to be the presiding judge at the ceremony.

The ceremony's date was changed to suit Clarkson's travel schedule, she said.

'It's a great honour for the new citizens.' said Battiston.

A governor general attending a citizenship ceremony in the Yukon will be 'a first for recent times,' said Battiston.

Clarkson's visit, however, is being classified as a 'private visit,' Pamela Bangart, chief of protocol for the Yukon government, said today.

Cathy Cheeseman, executive secretary in Commissioner Jack Cable's office, said they were only given finalized details about her trip on Friday.

John Ralston Saul, Clarkson's husband, will be in Whitehorse tonight speaking at the Yukon Arts Centre about his latest book, The Collapse of Globalism.

However, Randy Mylyk, press secretary to the Governor General, said today this ceremony has been in the works for several weeks and the only 'private visit' aspect of it is the fact that Ralston Saul is promoting his book.

Ralston Saul generally co-ordinates his own speaking endeavours, said Mylyk, and Whitehorse just happens to be the end of his western tour.

Ralston Saul has been on a book tour and has been travelling across western Canada over the last week.

Clarkson had originally been scheduled to visit Whitehorse this week for the 2005 Diplomatic Forum set for this Tuesday through Thursday, he said.

However, the forum was cancelled leading up to the May 19 confidence vote in the House of Commons, when there was speculation there might be a spring election if the Liberals were toppled.

The political uncertainty in Ottawa made it seem like it wasn't the right time to have almost 200 senior foreign diplomats out of Canada's capital city, Samantha McCulloch, communications officer for the territory's cabinet office, said last week.

Despite the cancellation of the forum, the Governor General's office decided to go ahead with her scheduled trip, said Mylyk.

Tomorrow's ceremony will begin at 4:30 p.m. with Clarkson inspecting the Ranger Guard of Honour. The citizenship presentation will begin at 5 p.m.

Cable will be among the special guests in attendance. However, Premier Dennis Fentie will not be there.

Fentie is still in Watson Lake on 'scheduled time off,' said Peter Carr, the Yukon Party cabinet spokesman.

He added that Fentie already had previous plans before learning about the Governor General's visit. There will be other cabinet members at the ceremony on his behalf, Carr said.