Wednesday, September 28, 2005 Posted at 4:26 AM EDT
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
OTTAWA — Her promise is the promise of what we almost are, of what we want to be. She is the becoming Canada.
There is a reason for the extraordinary attention paid yesterday to the investiture of Michaëlle Jean as Governor-General, and for the extraordinary controversy -- from accusations of separatist sympathies to the indiscretions of a dress designer -- that preceded it.
We are an entirely different country from the one reflected in the words and faces of those who lead us -- old faces, old men, who nurse ancient animosities and scratch at phantom wounds.
So many Canadians just don't care. They don't understand solitudes, can't comprehend the exquisitely nursed grudges of those who see the present only through the prism of an imagined past.
The millions -- no, the many millions -- who are in our land today having arrived from somewhere else can tell us of real wounds, real pain, a pain known to those who came here a quarter century ago from a ravaged Southeast Asia, or half a century ago from a ravaged Europe. Our new Governor-General knows this pain.
"The story of that little girl, who watched her parents, her family, and her friends grappling with the horrors of a ruthless dictatorship, who became the woman standing before you today, is a lesson in learning to be free," she declared.
Those who came before can take life-fulfilling pride in knowing that they created the country that brought her here, and her brothers and sisters from Sri Lanka and Somalia and Lebanon and Guatemala. They created a place where she could be free because all are free.
Now a new Canada seeks to fashion a new kind of freedom, the freedom to renounce ethnic perimeters, the freedom for all to embrace all. Michaëlle Jean is their voice.
She is relatively young, slight in stature and slightly in awe of what has happened to her. But she is also clearly determined to master her mandate and to fulfill, even rejuvenate, the role of head of state in Canada. Adrienne Clarkson opened this door. Michaëlle Jean has burst right through it.
Canadians seem to be celebrating this appointment as though it really mattered, as though the Governor-General were something other than merely the Queen's representative, the titular commander of the armed forces, a cutter of ribbons and a deliverer of clichéd speeches whose powers are held mostly in reserve. Why?
In part it is because she is not a politician. Her job, by definition, is to remain above the gritty, grubby business of governing this messy federation.
But there's more to it. Not since the 1960s have our political leaders seemed so irrelevant, so disconnected. Then, it was a society of youth seeking to demolish outdated moral and social strictures. Today it is a society of immigrants seeking to create the world's most cosmopolitan society. Then they turned to Pierre Trudeau. Today they turn to . . ..
There is no one to turn to.
Quote:
Michäelle Jean acknowledges applause as she takes the throne after being sworn in as Canada's 27th Governor General
But here is this beautiful young Canadian of Haitian birth, with a smile that makes you catch your breath, with a bemused older husband by her side, and a daughter who literally personifies our future, and you look at them and you think: Yes, this is our great achievement, this is the Canada that Canada wants to be.
And suddenly, the arguments of the nationalists and the sovereigntists and the fire-wallists, of the alienated and resentful and estranged, are so tired, so yesterday, that you just don't want to have to listen to them any more.
"Today's world . . . demands that we learn to see beyond our wounds, beyond our differences for the good of all," our new Governor-General implored yesterday. "We must eliminate the spectre of all the solitudes."
A few hours later, they were at it again in Question Period. But at least for a moment, you could believe.
. Please at least provide a link. As it stands the article is posted verbatim while the image is being leeched from the G&M's site.
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Last edited by Chealion; Sep 29th, 2005 at 09:23 AM.
Nothing to do with her specifically - the article is excellent
Quote:
The millions -- no, the many millions -- who are in our land today having arrived from somewhere else can tell us of real wounds, real pain, a pain known to those who came here a quarter century ago from a ravaged Southeast Asia, or half a century ago from a ravaged Europe. Our new Governor-General knows this pain.
"The story of that little girl, who watched her parents, her family, and her friends grappling with the horrors of a ruthless dictatorship, who became the woman standing before you today, is a lesson in learning to be free," she declared.
Those who came before can take life-fulfilling pride in knowing that they created the country that brought her here, and her brothers and sisters from Sri Lanka and Somalia and Lebanon and Guatemala. They created a place where she could be free because all are free.
Now a new Canada seeks to fashion a new kind of freedom, the freedom to renounce ethnic perimeters, the freedom for all to embrace all. Michaëlle Jean is their voice.
YOU better than most should understand what he's driving at in the article. She's a symbol and welcome one and what I've been talking about in the past - that the GG role as a non political representative of Canada should be.
Quote:
We are an entirely different country from the one reflected in the words and faces of those who lead us -- old faces, old men, who nurse ancient animosities and scratch at phantom wounds.
Indeed.....
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While I don't support the office and role of the GG, I feel that Ms. Jean shall be a breath of fresh air as a unifying factor in our country. We shall see.
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"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
Perhaps in her you'll see why I see a real benefit to Canadians of the GG role and a needed part of and yet apart from the "apparatus" of political government.
Whatever you wish to call the office - the role I think is an important one.
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She's a symbol and welcome one and what I've been talking about in the past - that the GG role as a non political representative of Canada should be. Indeed.....
A photo cutline in today's Edmonton Journal would seem to dispute your view in the minds of most non Quebec Canadians:
"Michelle Jean beams after being sworn in Tuesday as Canada's 27th Governor General in Ottawa and delivering her first vice-regal speech, clearly crafted to put to rest any lingering doubts about her dedication to a united Canada. Jean, a well-known media personality in Quebec, became the Queen's representative in Canada on the same day a freshly published poll suggests she is a more popular pick among Quebecers than among other Canadians. The poll, conducted for CTV, said 71 per cent of Quebecers think Jean is a good choice to succeed Adrienne Clarkson. The figure was only 38 per cent in the rest of Canada."
MacDoc's gushing views on Ms. Jean are not shared by the majority of Canadians outside Quebec.
Not surprising considering many Canadians think the office should be abolished entirely, and the sooner the better.
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If it takes a powerless remnant of a pointless monarchy to breathe some life into the corrupt, stagnant and selfish halls of power, then so be it.
Maybe if it takes the GG to do this, then the role isn't powerless and the monarchy isn't pointless. Her function is to, in some part, succeed where mob-rule/libertarianism and blatant vote-buying (that most democratic of acts) fails, and do it without violating individual freedom.
Not surprising considering many Canadians think the office should be abolished entirely, and the sooner the better.
no argument here
and get rid of that retirement home for political hacks, the Senate too
that building would be nice for luxury condos since it overlooks the river
"The remarkable new Governor-General".....
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