| Michaëlle Jean will be the second Governor General in a row who is a visible minority, a woman, an accomplished journalist for the CBC and who wasn’t born in Canada — and this upsets many Canadians.
Indeed, a nationwide outburst of objections has followed Prime Minister Paul Martin’s announcement last week that Jean will succeed Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson commencing September 27, 2005.
So what’s going on? Why the calls for a "homegrown statesman," as appeared in several newspapers, including editorials in the Calgary Herald.
Since the first appointment in 1867, 24 white males have taken the job. Of those, 16 were not even Canadians. It wasn’t until 1952, when Vincent Massey of Toronto was appointed, that the tradition of assigning a Canadian citizen to the post became standard.
But Jean is a Canadian citizen. Born in Haiti under dictator François Duvalier’s regime, Jean fled as a youngster with her family, settling in Thetford Mines, Quebec.
Like the approximately 150,000 other people who become Canadian citizens every year, should Jean not be granted the same assurance, under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, that "every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province"?
Or are there certain livelihoods that should be excluded from Canadians not born in Canada? Should homegrown Canadians get first dibs on all the good jobs? Should representatives of Canada always be homegrown? It’s a slippery slope. I would suggest someone who has taken the trouble to pick Canada as their new home may, in fact, make a better representative of this country than many homegrowns — after all, these folks chose Canada.
Among the other gripes against Jean’s appointment are that she has no judicial, diplomatic, legislative or military experience. These aforementioned qualities are assumed to better serve as preparation for the roles and responsibilities of the Governor General, which include representing the Crown in Canada, promoting Canadian sovereignty, celebrating excellence and encouraging national identity, national unity and moral leadership.
Jean is fluent in both of Canada’s official languages as well as Spanish, Italian and Haitian Creole. She can also read Portuguese. Surely, she will do a fine job of communicating our interests both nationally and internationally. That’s more than can be said for some of this country’s political representatives.
Jean holds a master’s degree, has worked to help immigrants, children and battered women, has worked for various government departments, and is an award-winning reporter, filmmaker and broadcaster. Can it not be imagined that she could conduct herself professionally and with diplomacy?
Still, Jean’s qualifications have been consistently minimized, with the media reducing her to a "television personality." Jean is the fourth journalist to take the job — perhaps if it were felt that this profession was an unsuitable qualification for the duties of the Governor General, those complaints should have been addressed previously.
And then it’s been argued that she is too young for the job. But three previous Governor Generals have been younger than her.
On August 5, a National Post editorial entitled "Give the new G-G a chance" at first appeared to take a uniquely congratulatory tone in its commentary towards Jean. But upon closer inspection, it read more like a Miss Manners column advising Jean to look to Mme. Clarkson’s example, rein in spending, learn from the Queen’s example, resist the temptation to redecorate, not forget who actually owns the house (Rideau Hall), spend the month and a half before her installation studying intensively the history and duties of her new office, not to take her military responsibilities lightly, avoid politics, and not make any controversial or divisive comments.
Would the editors be so apt to patronize a grey-haired white male? Likewise, would the public outcry be so fierce if the new GG were a grey-haired white male?
I think not.
I’d like to congratulate and thank Ms. Jean for accepting this important position. No doubt her spending will be scrutinized like that of no other public figure. No doubt her appearance and dress will make the headlines on more than one occasion. No doubt every one of her decisions and actions will be questioned.
And yet, there is also no doubt that she will help pave the way for more women and visible minorities to become equal Canadians with the same opportunities, rights and respect as their white, heterosexual, Canadian-born male counterparts. |
Copyright ©2005 FFWD. All rights reserved.