Other people that should have been GG.

[g_bambino]

Qualifications aside, she has never said how she voted in the referenda of 1995 or 1980. I find that remarkable.

It's not remarkable. She is, like any other Canadian, allowed to maintain her privacy if she wishes to do so. How she voted 11, or 26 years ago isn't even important. She accepted the commission, stated she was never involved with separatist organizations, swore allegiance to the Queen, and has been working on behalf of the entire country since then. To me, that's proof enough; she need not be subject to some kind of McCarthy-esque witch hunt.

[geoffrey]

Our current GG has many qualifications and qualities beyond being a journalist. The original poster was ignorant of that and a subsequent appears ignorant of that even though it was quoted quote clearly, so perhaps there's a partisan dislike of the current GG.

I agree, very qualified. We need more seperatist sympathizers leading our nation.

From her husband's wiki:

When in 2005 his wife was nominated by Prime Minister Paul Martin as the next governor-general,

controversy arose when his past resurfaced. While the personality of Michaëlle Jean was mostly accepted throughout Canada, Lafond himself had early on been suspected of being a Quebec separatist because of some of his movies. When an article in a sovereignist journal made its way to the press, alleging that Lafond had befriended a former FLQ (militant Quebec-separatist organization) member who had built for him a cache "to hide weapons" in his library, protest became louder, and many journalists and politicians accused the prime minister of having done too little research on Lafond's background. Later in August, his wife reacted to this in a formal letter announcing she and her husband "had never adhered to a political party or to the sovereignist ideology".

Which is a complete lie, why Michaelle, why lie to us? Just admit your married to a terrorist and soveriengtist sympathiser.

The article goes on:

Confusion continues to surround his loyalties. In his book, La manière nègre (The Black Way), he wrote, "So, a sovereign Quebec? An independent Quebec? Yes, and I applaud with both hands and I promise to be at all the St. Jean [baptiste] parades." However, in October 2005, in an interview with Radio-Canada he said, "I never believed that I could become a separatist. I have a great deal of difficulty with nationalism in general." He also called members of the sovereignist movement who had called him a traitor, terrorists. At the same time he affirmed that he was a Quebecois before a Canadian. He believes that he has always fought for the "cultural independence" of Quebec, but nothing further.

Good for him. Tell it like it is. Then change your story as soon as your wife get's a plum spot with the Federalists.

I think she is a great choice. An immigrant from a life of extraordinary hardship in one of the poorest and most violent countries on the planet (Haiti) who has taken what this country has to offer and made something of herself.

So being a poor immigrant is a qualification? Please. Maybe in the eyes of Toronto type voters, a Black oppressed woman looks like a politically responsible choice. In reality, there are far more qualified and reasonable people for the spot.

Qualifications aside, she has never said how she voted in the referenda of 1995 or 1980. I find that remarkable.

I think her vote is rather obvious, she is married to an FLQ supporter.

It seems to me that the loyalty of a country's Head of State should be beyond any doubt or question. Paul Martin named her for purely partisan reasons at a moment in his career when he was facing a terrible political scandal. Pierre Trudeau, indeed any serious Quebec federalist, would never have named such a person to the position of GG.

Exactly. For the spot of a purely ceremonial, leader of Canadian sovereingty, he sure picked about the most questionable choice out there. A second-rate Passionate Eye journalist, married to an FLQ/sovereigntist supporter? Please.

[Canuck E Stan]

An immigrant from a life of extraordinary hardship in one of the poorest and most violent countries on the planet (Haiti) who has taken what this country has to offer and made something of herself.

I

Ah, visions of a poor black girl and her parents getting in an overcrowded boat, in the dead of night drifting out to the promised land of Canada.......wait for the movie coming soon to CBC.

In reality the "life of extraordinary hardship" wasn't.

Jean's early years were spent in a middle-class neighbourhood in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, where her father was principal and teacher of philosophy at an elite, Protestant preparatory school. She was educated at home because her parents, Roger and Luce, did not want her to attend school, where she would have to swear allegiance to dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. In 1965, her father was arrested and tortured. In 1967 he fled to Canada; his wife and two daughters joined him the next year.

The family settled in THETFORD MINES, a Québec mining town, where Roger taught at the local college.

The Canadian Encyclopedia

[Higgly]

I don't recall mentioning any trip in a boat...

Have you reviewed what life has been like for the intelligentsia in Haiti? This was a guy who is basically a junior college professor. The family would have been a target on many levels, not the least of which would be the fact that they had some money. Imagine living in a place where you could be killed any time you left home.

Starting over in Thetford Mines is not exactly starting at the top. This is a family that came here for what Canada has to offer and made the most of it. How many of us who were born here have done that?

Still a damned sight better than a retired general.

[Canuck E Stan]

Starting over in Thetford Mines is not exactly starting at the top. This is a family that came here for what Canada has to offer and made the most of it. How many of us who were born here have done that?

Still a damned sight better than a retired general.

A College professor in a mining town I would think is up near the top.

[Higgly]

You have clearly never taught at a CGEP. Miners, cops, firemen, and a whole lot of other people make more money.

[Ricki Bobbi]

I should add, as writing that has reminded me, that it's unlikely we'd have had a female or minority GG should the position be a popularly elected one. There are at least some benefits to the apolitical appointment process.

So the constitutionally most powerfuly position in the country should be the place to start with affirmative action? That is a benefit to the appointment process?

[M.Dancer]

Pointless thread. So someone doesn't like the G-G....

well, whining is protected by law and the G-G so have at it.

[geoffrey]

I should add, as writing that has reminded me, that it's unlikely we'd have had a female or minority GG should the position be a popularly elected one. There are at least some benefits to the apolitical appointment process.

So the constitutionally most powerfuly position in the country should be the place to start with affirmative action? That is a benefit to the appointment process?

I know gender and race are the primary reasons that you'd hire someone bambino... but really, when are you going to join the 20th century at least and hire people based on qualifications?

[g_bambino]

I should add, as writing that has reminded me, that it's unlikely we'd have had a female or minority GG should the position be a popularly elected one. There are at least some benefits to the apolitical appointment process.

So the constitutionally most powerfuly position in the country should be the place to start with affirmative action? That is a benefit to the appointment process?

I know gender and race are the primary reasons that you'd hire someone bambino... but really, when are you going to join the 20th century at least and hire people based on qualifications?

Would the both of you please give it a rest? I clearly said in post #25 that qualifications were indeed important. However, it's also obvious that our political election process has never produced a female leader (minus, of course, Kim Campbell), nor one from a visible minority. Therefore it's not hard to speculate that popularly electing the Governor General would produce the same result. We could theorise forever about why that is, but regardless, two points still remain: 1) the post of Govenor General is different to that of any political office, and 2) finding a perfectly qualified woman, or minority, or both, and appointing them Governor General demonstrates to Canadians that qualified people are not necessarily only discovered within the Anglo-saxon/Franco old-boy's club which our political elite is made of. Such a person would fulfill both the constitutional and symbolic roles of the modern governor generalcy.

As I also said, Mme. Jean may not have been the most appropriate choice - her selection may have been based more on the symbolic than the substantial. However, that doesn't undermine my point. Could the process by which a nominee for appointment is selected use improvement, so as to give greater assurance of a person who is both qualified and symbolically appropriate? Certainly. But making the position an elected one would not help anything, for more (and more important) reasons than what we're now talking about here.

[RWA]

I would prefer that the position of GG should be removed from the government all together because GG represents a bi gone era of British imperialism and has no relevance to the Canada of today. The PM should be the Queens representative and the commander and chief of the armed forces but if I had to choose a GG it would be Lewis Mackenzie because he's a retired general and in my opinion a Canadian hero.

[geoffrey]

Would the both of you please give it a rest? I clearly said in post #25 that qualifications were indeed important. However, it's also obvious that our political election process has never produced a female leader (minus, of course, Kim Campbell), nor one from a visible minority.

Who cares? I tend to ignore gender and race when I vote, why can't the left in this country? And by the way, point on fact, Kim Campbell was never elected.

Therefore it's not hard to speculate that popularly electing the Governor General would produce the same result. We could theorise forever about why that is, but regardless, two points still remain: 1) the post of Govenor General is different to that of any political office, and 2) finding a perfectly qualified woman, or minority, or both, and appointing them Governor General demonstrates to Canadians that qualified people are not necessarily only discovered within the Anglo-saxon/Franco old-boy's club which our political elite is made of. Such a person would fulfill both the constitutional and symbolic roles of the modern governor generalcy.

So the office of GG should be reserved strictly for black women so the rest of Canada can see their potential. Good grief, I don't understand why those on the left can't see the blatant hypocrisy in such a statement. I am beginning to understand why the Yanks needed a right wing party to eliminate slavery, the left just can't get around their fixation on race.

As I also said, Mme. Jean may not have been the most appropriate choice - her selection may have been based more on the symbolic than the substantial. However, that doesn't undermine my point. Could the process by which a nominee for appointment is selected use improvement, so as to give greater assurance of a person who is both qualified and symbolically appropriate? Certainly. But making the position an elected one would not help anything, for more (and more important) reasons than what we're now talking about here.

Symbolically appropriate = politically correct?

Gee, I hope I never have to work in a company managed by you, I wouldn't be appropriate for any job.

I agree election isn't appropriate though, but appointment strictly on qualifications is much more satisfactory. CBC reporters married to FLQ supporters aren't really qualfied to be a symbol of Canadian sovereignty or anything of the such.

[Rue]

What credintials does she have? She was a journalist...

Why not have a retired general, like Australia?

Her credentials were;

1-she was Francophone (the rotation called for a Francophone)

2-she was an immigrant/new Canadian

3-black

4-genuinely wanted the job

5-could handle the press easily.

Being a journalist doesn't harm matters when the job is all about photo-ops.

She actually has been doing a great job. She has unlike Ms. Clarkson, kept her budget modest and spent a great deal of time talking with Canadians.

I think the reason they picked her was because they wanted a visible minority who could also represent immigrants and new Canadians who came to Canada to start over.

Now in terms of picking a retired General, they haven't done that for ages. They seem to be trying to get away from the military tradition. Who knows, maybe with Harper if he is still in power, he woul choose a retired General. The problem is the obvious choice, Romeo Dallaires is Francophone and next up on the rotation is an Anglophone. If Harper is around maybe he would appoint retired Maj. Gen. Mackenzie.

I also hear rumbles they want to seriously consider appointing an aboriginal GG. Phil Fontaine? Elijah Harper?

Ethel Blondell (only she is a Liberal so that may hurt her). Ovide Mercredi probably would laugh it off.

[geoffrey]

I also hear rumbles they want to seriously consider appointing an aboriginal GG. Phil Fontaine? Elijah Harper?

Ethel Blondell (only she is a Liberal so that may hurt her). Ovide Mercredi probably would laugh it off.

So the reality is, if your of a certain race, you have priority? Pfft to equally, why do we bother pretending?

When race is the primary reason we pick political people, or when we create a racial profile to do so, it's acting out of the utmost hypocrisy.

[fellowtraveller]

As a student at the University of Montreal, Jean received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian and Hispanic languages and literature and, from 1984 until 1986, taught Italian Studies while completing a Master of Arts degree in comparative literature. Jean attended the universities of Florence, Perugia, and the Catholic University of Milan to continue her studies in language and literature.

While attending university, Jean worked at a shelter for battered women from 1979 until 1987. She later helped establish a network of shelters for women and children across Canada. Jean also worked in organizations that helped immigrants to Canada and then later worked for Employment and Immigration Canada (now Human Resources and Skills Development Canada} and at the Conseil des Communautés culturelles du Québec. Jean began writing about the experiences of immigrant women.

...

Jean was an award-winning reporter, filmmaker, and broadcaster. She and Lafond have made several films, including the award-winning, Haïti dans tous nos rêves (Haïti in all Our Dreams). In the film, she meets her uncle, the poet and essayist René Depestre, who fled from the Duvalier dictatorship into exile in France and wrote about his dreams for Haïti, to tell him Haïti awaits his return. She has hosted and produced news and documentary programming for television on both the English and French services of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She was most recently the host of CBC Newsworld's The Passionate Eye and RDI's Grands Reportages, as well as an occasional anchor of Radio-Canada's Le Téléjournal.

To summarize, she has been first a student, then a civil servant for her entire life.

I guess that was enough for PM Martin.

The discussion over appointment vs. election has missed a critical Third Way. Just banish the position. Really, it has no actual purpose.

[Ricki Bobbi]

Her credentials were;

1-she was Francophone (the rotation called for a Francophone)

2-she was an immigrant/new Canadian

3-black

4-genuinely wanted the job

5-could handle the press easily.

Do you not remember the conidtions she put on accepting the job? What was ... it free time to go back to Montreal and something about a guaranteed spot in a certain school for her daughter? Those are things that are perfect acceptable to ask for when negotiating for a new job ... that *isn't* the highest job in the land and a dream opportunity of a lifetime. That isn't how you treat a job you really want. That turned me off on her from day one.

The fact that Martin didn't tell her to shove it when she made her demands was symbolic of why he had to go. That isn't how a leader acts. Can anybody imagine somebody Harper offers the GG gig to putting conditions on their acceptance?

Andrew Coyne summed it up best.

This isn't a sales clerk we're hiring. This is supposed to be the position of supreme honour and prestige in the country, one with important symbolic and substantive roles. It should be filled by titans, revered national icons, whose love of country is reflected in the love their country has for them.

[gerryhatrick]

I don't know why some are so against the GG. Seems to be people on the right for some reason.

She actually spoke strongly in support of the Afghanistan mission the other day. Maybe they want to rethink their opposition to her.

[gerryhatrick]

To summarize, she has been first a student, then a civil servant for her entire life.

Why would you leave out her extensive NGO and volunteer work? That was even referenced in the wiki bio you quoted, strange you'd skip it.

What do you have against her?

[Ricki Bobbi]

Why would you leave out her extensive NGO and volunteer work? That was even referenced in the wiki bio you quoted, strange you'd skip it.

What do you have against her?

She's unqualified for the job.

She was chosen for purely reasons of political optics in a failed attempt by Paul Martin to win the 2006 election.

She had the audacity to put conditions on accepting the job.

[Leader Circle]

I think Stompin' Tom Connors would have been more qualified and he is someone who " truly loves Canada"!!

She is just another symbol of the way the world is changing and not for the good!

[geoffrey]

Wayne Gretzky.

[gerryhatrick]

She's unqualified for the job.

Hardly. Her qualifications are described in wikipedia, and they appear more than sufficient to an objective observer.

She was chosen for purely reasons of political optics in a failed attempt by Paul Martin to win the 2006 election.

By that logic everyting Harper is now doing is a failed attempt to win in 2007.

Consider that a Liberal PM might have done something for it's pure merit rather than as an election ploy.

[geoffrey]

Consider that a Liberal PM might have done something for it's pure merit rather than as an election ploy.

I don't for a minute believe any politican does anything beyond attempt to win points for the next election.

[Ricki Bobbi]

Hardly. Her qualifications are described in wikipedia, and they appear more than sufficient to an objective observer.

By that logic everyting Harper is now doing is a failed attempt to win in 2007.

Consider that a Liberal PM might have done something for it's pure merit rather than as an election ploy.

Hmm. What national profile did Jean have before appointed? Not much...

Can't real say what Harper is doing is a failed attempt till after the election.

Gerry do you have a job? Let me guess you are either paid by some anti-Harper group and/or angry at the world for being *underemployed* and blame it on the Conservatives.

Let's turn this around. Have you ever considered that Harper has done anything good for Canada ever?

[uOttawaMan]

Wayne Gretzky.

Exactly.