Coquette’s Gift Shop

Amédée Forget was the last Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories and the first Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan. He and his wife Henriette Drolet Forget lived at Government House with their two pets. One was a mischievous and somewhat badly behaved monkey named Jocko. The second was a small gray parrot called Coquette.

Coquette was, what today, would be referred to as ‘a unilingual francophone’. She must have been fairly well behaved as she was an habitual and well liked attendee at Madame Forget’s very popular and stylish ‘at homes’. She apparently spoke French to the ladies in attendance, much to their delight if not confusion.

The gift shop at Government House is named to honour the memory of Coquette - a little bit of “je ne sais quoi” in an otherwise very English edifice.

Coquettes is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm for your shopping pleasure. You will find a variety of Saskatchewan made merchandise and art, Aboriginal items, as well as other Canadian made and imported quality goods.

Coquette’s e-mail address is: coquettesgiftshop@sasktel.net