Michaëlle Jean

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Her Excellency The Right Honourable
 Michaëlle Jean
 CC, CMM, COM, CD, BA MA Mont, LLD(hc) Alb, LLD(hc) Man, LLD(hc) Osg, DLitt(hc) McGill, DLitt(hc) Monct, DA(hc) Ott, DIR(hc) Perugia, DUniv(hc) Lav, FRCPSC(hon)

Incumbent
Assumed office 
27 September 2005
Monarch Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Paul Martin
Stephen Harper
Preceded by Adrienne Clarkson
Born 6 September 1957 (1957-09-06) (age 52)
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Nationality Canadian
Spouse(s) Jean-Daniel Lafond
Profession Journalist
Signature

Michaëlle Jean CC CMM COM CD FRCPSC(hon) (French pronunciation: [mika.ɛl ʒɑ̃]; born 6 September 1957) is the current Governor General of Canada. She was appointed as such by Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, on the recommendation of then Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, to replace Adrienne Clarkson as vicereine. The official announcement of the appointment was made on 4 August 2005, and Jean's investiture as the 27th governor general since Confederation took place on 27 September.

Jean was a refugee from Haiti, coming to Canada in 1968, and was raised in the town of Thetford Mines, Quebec. After receiving a number of university degrees, Jean worked as a journalist and broadcaster for Radio-Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), as well as undertaking charity work, mostly in the field of assisting victims of domestic violence. Her participation in some of her husband's film works through the 1990s, as well as her holding of French citizenship, later caused controversy when her appointment as governor general was announced; comments Jean had been recorded making were construed by some as favouring Quebec sovereignty, and her dual citizenship caused doubt about her loyalties. Jean denied any separatist leanings and renounced her citizenship of France.

As the Governor General of Canada, Jean is entitled to be styled Her Excellency while in office, and The Right Honourable for the duration of her viceregal tenure and life beyond; given current practice, she will be sworn in to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada after her term as the Queen's representative has ended.

Contents

[edit] Early life and youth

With her family, Jean fled Haiti in 1968 to escape the regime of dictator François Duvalier, who had tortured Jean's philosopher father and separated him from his family for 30 years. Upon arrival in Canada, the family settled at Thetford Mines, Quebec.[1]

Jean received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian and Hispanic languages and literature from the University of Montreal, and, from 1984 to 1986, taught Italian studies while completing her Master of Arts degree in comparative literature. She then went on with language and literature studies at the University of Florence, the University of Perugia, and the Catholic University of Milan. Besides French and English, Jean is fluent in Spanish, Italian, and Haitian Creole, and can read Portuguese.[1]

Concurrent with her studies, between 1979 and 1987, Jean worked at a women's shelter, which paved the way for her establishment of a network of shelters for women and children across Canada. She also involved herself in organisations dedicated to assisting immigrants obtain entry into Canada, and later worked for Employment and Immigration Canada (now Human Resources and Skills Development Canada) and at the Conseil des Communautés culturelles du Québec, where Jean began writing about the experiences of immigrant women.[1]

Jean married Canadian filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond, and the couple adopted as their daughter Marie-Éden, an orphaned child from Haiti.

[edit] Journalism

Jean became a reporter, filmmaker, and broadcaster for Radio-Canada in 1988, hosting news and affairs programmes such as Actuel, Montréal ce soir, Virages, and Le Point. She then moved in 1995 to Réseau de l'information (RDI), Radio-Canada's all-news channel, in order to anchor a number of programmes, Le Monde ce soir, l'Édition québécoise, Horizons francophones, Les Grands reportages, Le Journal RDI, and RDI à l'écoute, for example. Only four years later, she was asked by CBC's English language all-news channel, CBC Newsworld, to host The Passionate Eye and Rough Cuts, which both broadcast the best in Canadian and foreign documentary films. By 2004, Jean was hosting her own show, Michaëlle, while continuing to anchor RDI's Grands reportages, as well as acting occasionally as anchor of Le Téléjournal.

Over the same period, Jean made several films with her husband, including the award winning Haïti dans tous nos rêves ("Haiti in All Our Dreams"), in which 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 Haiti, and tells him Haiti awaits his return. She similarly produced and hosted news and documentary programming for television on both the English and French services of the CBC.

[edit] Governor generalship

Jean is Canada's first governor general of Caribbean origin; the third woman (after Jeanne Sauvé and Adrienne Clarkson); the fourth youngest (after John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, who was 33 years old in 1878; Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of Lansdowne, who was 38 years old in 1883; and Edward Schreyer, who was 43 years old in 1979); the fourth former journalist (after Sauvé, Roméo LeBlanc and Clarkson); and the second after Clarkson to not only have neither a political nor military background, but also to be a visible minority, to break the tradition of Canadian-born governors general, and to be in an interracial marriage. Jean is also the first representative of Queen Elizabeth II to have been born during the latter's reign, and her appointment saw the first child living in Rideau Hall since Schreyer and his young family lived there in the early 1980s.

[edit] As Governor General-Designate

Prime Minister Paul Martin, who recommended Jean to Queen Elizabeth II for appointment as the sovereign's viceroy.

In announcing on 4 August 2005 Queen Elizabeth II's approval, by commission under the royal sign-manual and signet, of Jean as his choice to succeed Clarkson as governor general, then Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said of Jean that she "is a woman of talent and achievement. Her personal story is nothing short of extraordinary. And extraordinary is precisely what we seek in a governor generalship – who after all must represent all of Canada to all Canadians and to the rest of the world as well."[2] Almost immediately, Martin was asked if the political climate in Ottawa at the time had led him to recommend Jean for appointment by the Queen, to which he denied that his was a political move to gain seats in Quebec, where the Liberal Party had lost 15 seats in the 2004 election. From Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, the upcoming appointment was met with mostly favourable comments,[n 1] save for those from Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, who expressed disappointment at Jean for deciding to "accept a position that is strictly honorary and within an institution that is not democratic." Jean's predecessor, Adrienne Clarkson, applauded the choice of Jean, saying that she was "an exciting and imaginative choice for governor general," and said that she and her husband looked forward to Jean's investiture with "great enthusiasm."[5] In her first remarks after this announcement, Jean herself encouraged Canadians to involve themselves in their communities, and stated that she wished to reach out to all Canadians, regardless of their background, and made it a goal to focus especially on Canadian youth and the disadvantaged.

However, by 11 August 2008, The Globe and Mail was reporting that a forthcoming piece by René Boulanger for the Quebec sovereigntist publication Le Québécois would reveal that Jean and her husband had supported independence for Quebec, and that Jean's husband was an associate of former members of the terrorist organisation, the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ),[6] specifically Jacques Rose, whom Boulanger claimed Lafonde had asked to build a bookshelf for he and Jean in their Montreal home. Though Boulanger admitted that his motivations were to cause the rejection of Jean by Anglophone Canadians, Gilles Rhéaume, former president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society called on Jean to reveal how she voted in Quebec's 1995 referendum on independence,[7][8] and members of parliament, as well as some provincial premiers, demanded that Jean and her husband clarify where their sympathies lay.[9]

In response to these demands, the Prime Minister stated that the Governor General-Designate and her spouse had both undergone thorough background checks by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, as was standard procedure for appointment to such a high profile position.[9][10] Only four days later, though, controversy was again fuelled when, on 17 August, La Presse published an article reporting that in a documentary, Jean had been filmed at a Montreal bar with several hard-line Quebec separatists, who all toasted "to independence" after Jean stated: "Independence can't be given, it must be taken." The same day, Jean responded with a public statement, saying "I wish to tell you unequivocally that both my husband and I are proud to be Canadian and that we have the greatest respect for the institutions of our country. We are fully committed to Canada. I would not have accepted this position otherwise... [We] have never belonged to a political party or the separatist movement," and went on to say that in the documented footage she had been speaking about Haiti, and not Quebec. Martin added on his earlier comments: "There is no doubt in my mind that her devotion to Canada is longstanding and resolute,"[11] though some critics continued to argue that Jean's response had been too vague. By late August, polls showed that there had been a 20% drop in support for the recommendation of Jean as the next governor general, in response to which, the Haitian community voiced their support for Jean, even holding special church services in her honour.[12]

The Queen granted an audience with Jean and her family, which was held on 6 September 2005 at Balmoral Castle. Though this type of meeting with a governor general-designate was standard, Jean's was unique in that her young daughter was present, marking the first time in Elizabeth's reign that her designated viceroy-to-be had brought a child to an audience. Though this meeting went well, upon her return to Canada Jean yet again became a target when the subject of her dual citizenship was raised, in particular the French citizenship she had obtained through her marriage to the French-born Lafond. A section of the French civil code forbade French citizens from holding government or military positions in other countries, yet Jean, as governor general, would hold a governmental position as the representative of Canada's head of state, and, as such, would have a military role carrying out the duties of Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces, as constitutionally vested in the monarch.[13] Though the French embassy in Ottawa stated that there was "no question" that the law would not be enforced in Jean's case, on 25 September, two days before her swearing-in, Jean made it public that she had renounced her French citizenship "in light of the responsibilities related to the function of Governor General of Canada and Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Forces,"[14] thus putting the controversy to rest.

[edit] As Governor General

Michaëlle Jean greets concert attendees at the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival at Rideau Hall.
As the representative of Canada's head of state, the Governor General welcomes US President Barack Obama to Canada, 19 February 2009.

At her investiture ceremony in the Senate chamber on 27 September 2005, Jean declared that "the time of the Two Solitudes that for too long described the character of this country is past." In her speech, described as "moving", Jean also called for the protection of the environment, the shielding of culture against globalization, and an end to the marginalisation of young people. According to one media account, "the pomp and circumstance of Canada's most significant state function were blended with humour, passion and even tears."[15] while The Globe and Mail columnist John Ibbitson reflected the general captivation with the new governor general in the following way:

“ [H]ere 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, this is the Canada that will ultimately make way for different cultural identities.[16] ”

[edit] Domestic duties

Echoing her inaugural speech, Jean made it her focus during her time as the Queen's representative to break the Two Solitudes, as reflected in the motto on her personal coat of arms: BRISER LES SOLITUDES, which translates into "breaking down solitudes." This mandate extended beyond simply the relationship between Francophones and Anglophones in Canada, which the Two Solitudes traditionally referred to, and included relations between peoples of all racial, linguistic, cultural, and gender groups in Canada. Jean also focused strongly on the plight of female victims of violence, meeting with representatives of women's organisations during foreign visits, as well as during her visits to Canada's provinces.[17] Where she went, crowds were large and welcoming, in marked contrast to the low approval levels shown in polls before her appointment.[18] However, as her car drove up to the National War Memorial just prior to the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa on 11 November 2005, some attending veterans turned their backs on the Governor General and her consort to show their contempt for two people who, in the veterans' view, were Quebec separatist sympathisers who worked to break up a country Canadian soldiers had fought to defend.[19] This incident came just following the National Press Gallery dinner, where, despite the event being a jovial annual gathering akin to a roast wherein Canadian politicians and reporters make speeches satirizing one another, Jean stirred controversy when she referred jokingly to Parti Québécois leadership candidate André Boisclair's admitted cocaine use.[20]

Jean undertook various other ceremonial duties, such as presenting the Grey Cup (itself donated by previous Governor General Albert Grey, Earl Grey) at the 93rd CFL championship game on 27 November 2005, and opening the Toonik Tyme Festival in Iqaluit, Nunavut, where she donated eighty books in Inuktitut, French, and English to the Centennial Library in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday on 21 April 2006.[21] The next month, on 4 May, Jean became the first governor general to address the Alberta legislature during her first official visit to the province, which preceded another to Saskatchewan where Jean participated in an historic private discussion with aboriginal women chiefs and elders at Saskatchewan's Government House, following the Lieutenant Governor's luncheon.

Between these tours of the country, in an interview on 18 September 2006 with the Canadian Press, and speaking about an idea for subsidies to allow Canadians to visit other parts of the country, Jean stated that Quebecers "are sometimes very disconnected from the rest of Canada," and that this isolation affected Canada's unity. After being criticised by Quebec separatist politicians, including André Boisclair and Gilles Duceppe, Jean clarified her statement by adding that Canadians from all provinces were disconnected from other parts of the country.[22][23] A 26 September editorial in the Montreal Gazette, however, supported Jean's statements on the divisions between Canada's peoples, and said that supporting national unity was a part of a governor general's mandate.[24] This came the day preceding that on which Jean became the first governor general to launch an online chat with Canadians – an initiative that was part of the larger project of creating within the Governor General's domain name a website dubbed "Citizen Voices: Breaking Down Solitudes", where users could engage each other in blogs and discussion forums – as well as when journalist Chantal Hébert expressed her concern that Jean had "been wading uncommonly deep in political territory over the past few months," citing the Governor General's criticism of Quebec sovereigntists, and her expressed support for the mission of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.[25]

Jean presiding over Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa, 2007.

This notion of Jean overstepping conventional boundaries continued into 2007 when contents of her speech given at a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were seen by some as a thinly veiled criticism of her Cabinet's decision to end the Court Challenges Program, which had previously provided government money to non-profit groups for use in court challenges against the Crown.[26] At the same time, it was reported that Rideau Hall staff had been systematically removing royal portraits from walls of the palace. These revelations led the Globe and Mail's Michael Valpy to pen a piece giving more light on the criticisms directed at the viceregal couple, including Jean's supposedly lighter schedule in comparison to her predecessor's, her incomplete tour of all the provinces and territories of the country, and her invitations to those whom Valpy described as "potentially politically charged individuals" to post on the Rideau Hall blog site. Valpy also revealed that early in his time as prime minister, Stephen Harper was told by Alex Himelfarb, then the Clerk of the Privy Council: "Prime Minister, your biggest problem is in Rideau Hall," meaning Jean and her potential to be a "loose cannon".[27]

Regarding Valpy's comments about Jean's reduced schedule, and even cancellation of some events, the initial explanation from Rideau Hall was fatigue on the part of the Governor General. Later elaborations, however, revealed that Jean had been suffering from Thyroid problems, and that she was relaxing at the recommendation of her doctor; Jean had previously been undertaking a hectic schedule, travelling to France for the 90th anniversary of the battle of Vimy Ridge, and then back to Trenton, Ontario, for the arrival of the bodies of six Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Her first function once recovered was to welcome László Sólyom, President of Hungary, on his state visit to Canada.[28] Then, following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn – the then Governor General who opened the first expansion of the museum in 1914 – Jean dedicated the new Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum on 1 June 2007.[29]

Jean travelled to Nunavut in early 2009, and there participated in a traditional Inuit seal feast at a community festival, gutting a seal that had been recently killed by hunters, and consuming a piece of the raw heart. While both her immediate predecessor and Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, had previously partaken in raw seal meat in the Canadian Arctic,[30] Jean's simple act drew some criticism from animal rights activists,[31] though also praise from the Canadian press and public.[32] When asked by reporters if her actions were in response to the European Parliament's recent ban on the import of Canadian seal products, Jean replied: "Take from that what you will."[33]

Jean has been seen in Canadian Forces uniform twice, first in her official Canadian Navy uniform at the Navy's Consecration and Presentation of the Queen's Colour ceremony in Halifax on June 27, 2009,[34] and in her Army dress at the National Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa on November 11, 2009 (at which she was accompanied by Charles, Prince of Wales, who was similarly attired).[35]

On 27 June 2009, it was announced that Jean will officially open the 2010 Winter Olympics, which are to be held in Vancouver, on 12 February 2010.[36]

[edit] Parliamentary dispute

Main article: 2008–2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute

At the end of 2008, a coalition of two opposition parties in parliament (the Liberal and New Democratic parties), with the support of a third (the Bloc Québécois), joined together in order to rescind their confidence in the Cabinet under the chairmanship of Jean's prime minister and Conservative Party leader, Stephen Harper, after the finance minister had tabled an economic update in the House of Commons. On 4 December 2008, on the advice of Harper, Jean chose to prorogue parliament until late January 2009,[37] thus preventing the possibility of an official vote of non-confidence and a resulting situation where the Governor General would need to choose between allowing the coalition to form a government or dissolving parliament and calling a federal election, after having allowed an election only four months previously.[38] In the months while parliament was prorogued, the Liberal Party underwent a change in leadership, distanced themselves from the coalition, and supported the 27 January 2009 budget prepared by the still sitting Cabinet,[39] thus keeping the Conservative Party in power.

[edit] International duties

During her visit to Canada on October 24-25, 2005 U.S. Secretary of State Condolezza Rice paid a visit to Governor General Michaëlle Jean
Governor General Michaelle Jean with the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva

The viceregal family undertook their first international trip in February 2006, journeying to Italy to attend the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics – where Canada was given the Olympic flag as the host of the next games in 2010 – as well as to meet Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in Torino, and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Later in the same month, Jean attended the investiture of René Préval as President of Haiti, her first visit to her homeland in her viceregal capacity, and where she was greeted with enthusiasm in her hometown of Jacmel.[40]

At the end of the year, between 18 November and 11 December 2006, Jean embarked on a trip consisting of state visits to five African countries – Algeria, Mali, Ghana, South Africa, and Morocco – wherein the Governor General encouraged women's rights.[41] She also, in a precedent-breaking move, personally explained on her Citizen Voices website the role of the Governor General in undertaking state visits, and the reason behind these particular tours throughout Africa,[42] then continuing to post, from Africa, her observations and feelings on her experiences on the continent. In Mali, where she arrived on 23 November 2006, Jean was greeted by tens of thousands of people lining the highway as her motorcade passed, and in the town of Benieli, Jean was presented with a goat, replete with a Canadian flag on its collar.[43] Male vendors also gave Canadian journalists gifts to be passed on to Jean, provided that she also be given their telephone numbers; the tokens, and phone numbers, were deposited with the Rideau Hall Office of Protocol.[44] Further, during the South African leg of the tour, then President Thabo Mbeki praised the Queen-in-Council's decision to appoint Jean as governor general, citing it as an example to European countries of how African immigrants could be treated.[45]

In her capacity as acting Commander-in-Chief, on 8 March 2007, Jean made her first visit to Canadian troops taking part in the offensive in Afghanistan. Prior to this, the Governor General had stated her desire to visit soldiers in the region, but her Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, advised her not to go, citing security concerns over the viceroy being in such a turbulent area. This was despite the fact that a number of Canadian politicians had already visited the region, but still, Jean landed on the same day that two attacks against Canadian soldiers took place.[46] Jean had the arrival timed specifically for International Women's Day, stating: "the women of Afghanistan may face the most unbearable conditions, but they never stop fighting for survival. Of course, we, the rest of the women around the world, took too long to hear the cries of our Afghan sisters, but I am here to tell them that they are no longer alone. And neither are the people of Afghanistan." Part of the Governor General's duties included a meeting with Afghan women, as well as Canadian soldiers, Royal Canadian Mounted Police teams, humanitarian workers, and diplomats.[47]

[edit] Titles, styles, honours, and arms

[edit] Titles

Viceregal styles of
Michaëlle Jean
Crest of the Governor-General of Canada.svg
Reference style Her Excellency The Right Honourable
Son Excellence la très honorable
Spoken style Your Excellency
Votre Excellence
Alternative style Ma'am
Madame
  • 6 September 1957 – 27 September 2005: Miss/Madam Michaëlle Jean
  • 27 September 2005 – : Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada

The Governor General's style and title in full is, in English: Her Excellency The Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada, and in French: Son Excellence la très honorable Michaëlle Jean, chancelière et compagnon principale de l'ordre du Canada, chancelière et commandante de l'ordre du mérite militaire, chancelière et commandante de l'ordre du mérite des forces de police, gouverneure générale et commandante en chef du Canada. It should be noted that, for Jean, Commander-in-Chief is strictly a title, and not a position that she holds; the actual commander-in-chief (who can also be, and is, called such) is perpetually the monarch of Canada.[48]

[edit] Honours

Ribbon bars of Michaëlle Jean
Order of Canada (CC) ribbon bar.png Order of Military Merit (Canada) ribbon (CMM).jpg Order of Merit of the Police Forces (Canada) ribbon (COM).jpg Venerable Order of St John Ribbon 1.jpg
CD-ribbon.png SCM ribbon.png
Appointments
Medals
Awards
Foreign honours
  • Switzerland 1985: Swiss Ambassador to Canada's Prize of Excellence in French and Italian studies

[edit] Honorary military appointments

[edit] Honorary degrees

[edit] Honorific eponyms

Schools

[edit] Arms

Arms of Michaëlle Jean
Notes
Just prior to her installation as Governor General, Jean was granted a personal coat of arms that depicted her Haitian roots.
 Personal Coat of Arms of Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean.jpg
Adopted
1 September 2005
Crest
A sea shell Or entoured by a chain its ends broken Sable
Escutcheon
Sable a sand dollar ensigned by the Royal Crown Or
Supporters
Two Simbis Or queued and crined Sable each sounding a sea shell Or
Compartment
Issuant from barry wavy Or and Sable set before a rocky mound proper growing thereon to the dexter a palm tree and to the sinister a pine tree Or
Motto
BRISER LES SOLITUDES
(Breaking down solitudes)
Orders
The ribbon and insignia of a Companion of the Order of Canada.
DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM
(They desire a better country)
Symbolism
The shield shows a sand dollar, a special talisman for Jean, and the Crown symbolising her viceregal authority. The shell in a broken chain refers to Albert Mangonès' sculpture in Port-au-Prince, Marron Inconnu, which depicts an escaped slave blowing a sea shell to call to arms his fellow enslaved people; this symbolises Jean's ancestors' escape from slavery. The two Simbis are water spirits in Haitian culture, who, by legend, calm rough seas and give wisdom; they stand in before a rocky terrain upon which are rooted a palm tree – a Haitian symbol of peace – and a pine tree – representative of the natural riches of Canada.[61]

[edit] See also

Search Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Michaëlle Jean

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Stephen Harper, then the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition as head of the Conservative Party, offered his congratulations and said that Jean's life story "serves as a great example to many Canadians. I know Mme Jean will serve Canada in a dignified, viceregal fashion."[3] As well, Jack Layton, who was leader of the New Democratic Party, said that he wished Jean and her family well, and that he looked "forward to seeing a family again in Rideau Hall, which is fitting for the first Governor-General [sic] of a new century," and went on to say that Jean "knows well the value of the peacekeeping operations that give Canadians so much pride.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "Indepth > Governor General Michaëlle Jean". CBC. 11 October 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/governorgeneral/michaelle_jean.html. Retrieved 22 February 2009. 
  2. ^ Office of the Prime Minister (4 August 2005). "Announcement by Paul Martin of Michaëlle Jean's appointment". Queen's Printer for Canada. http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news.asp?id=556. Retrieved 8 August 2005. 
  3. ^ Statement from Stephen Harper on the Appointment of New Governor General (4 August 2005). "Stephen Harper's remarks". Press release. http://www.conservative.ca/EN/news_releases/statement_from_stephen_harper_on_the_appointment_of_new_governor_general/. Retrieved 4 August 2005. 
  4. ^ New Democratic Party (5 August 2005). "Layton, NDP welcome Michaëlle Jean as new Governor-General". Press release. http://www.ndp.ca/page/1540. Retrieved 5 August 2005. 
  5. ^ Government House (4 August 2005). "Message from Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson Governor General of Canada on the announcement of Michaëlle Jean as new Governor General Designate". Press release. http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4516. Retrieved 4 August 2005. 
  6. ^ Peritz, Ingrid (11 August 2005), "Rideau Hall pick disappoints separatist hard-liners", The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050811/LAFOND11/National/Idx, retrieved 11 August 2005 
  7. ^ Wyatt, Nelson (11 August 2005), "Separatist says 'Come clean, Jean'", The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050811.wjean0811, retrieved 11 August 2005 
  8. ^ Canadian Press (11 August 2005). "GG-designate challenged on 1995 referendum vote". CTV. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1123796154319_119205354/?hub=Canada. Retrieved 11 August 2005. 
  9. ^ a b "New governor general must clarify sovereignty position, premiers say". CBC. 12 August 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/08/12/jean-sovereignty050812.html. Retrieved 12 August 2005. 
  10. ^ LeBlanc, Daniel (13 August 2005), "Martin defends viceregal couple's loyalty", The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050812.wxlafond13/BNStory/National/, retrieved 22 February 2009 
  11. ^ Office of the Prime Minister (17 August 2005). "Statement by Paul Martin on the Governor General-Designate". Press release. http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news.asp?id=564. Retrieved 17 August 2005. 
  12. ^ "Haitian community holds special church service for the governor general-designate". CBC. 27 August 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/08/27/haitian-church-service-michaelle-jean-080527.html. Retrieved 27 August 2005. 
  13. ^ Victoria (29 March 1867), Constitution Act, 1867, III.15, Westminster: Queen's Printer, http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/ca_1867.html, retrieved 22 February 2009 
  14. ^ "New governor general to give up French citizenship". CBC. 25 September 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/09/25/jean_citizenship_20050925.html. Retrieved 25 September 2005. 
  15. ^ Thompson, Elizabeth (28 September 2005), "Passion and Tears: Jean Sworn In", The Gazette, http://www.canada.com/national/features/governor_general/story.html?id=78549c49-781f-43c0-908d-20f24db2ca5a, retrieved 28 September 2005 
  16. ^ Ibbitson, John (28 September 2005), "The remarkable new Governor-General", The Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050928.wxibbitson28/BNStory/International/ 
  17. ^ Canadian Press (16 May 2007). "GG encourages dialogue to end domestic violence". CTV. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070516/jean_violence_070516/20070516?hub=Canada. Retrieved 16 May 2007. 
  18. ^ "Hundreds greet new Governor General". CBC. 18 October 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/story/mb_gg20051018.html. Retrieved 18 October 2005. 
  19. ^ "Canadians honour war dead in solemn ceremony". CTV. 11 November 2005. http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051111/Remembrance_Day_051111. Retrieved 11 November 2005. 
  20. ^ "Governor General criticized by sister over Boisclair jokes". CBC. 6 November 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/11/05/jean-051105.html. Retrieved 6 November 2005. 
  21. ^ Jean, Michaëlle (17 April 2006). Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean Speech on the Occasion of the Opening Ceremony of the Toonik Tyme Festival. Government House. http://www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=4728. Retrieved 17 April 2006. 
  22. ^ "Le Québec boude le Canada, déplore Michaëlle Jean" (in French). LCN. September 2006. http://lcn.canoe.com/lcn/infos/national/archives/2006/09/20060923-170419.html. Retrieved 27 September 2006. 
  23. ^ Canadian Press (25 September 2006), "Governor-General defends remarks on Quebec", Globe and Mail, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060925.NATSTOR25/TPStory/National, retrieved 27 September 2006 
  24. ^ Editorial (27 September 2006), "Exchanges bring two solitudes closer", Toronto Star, http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1159307412210&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795, retrieved 27 September 2006 
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[edit] External links

Order of precedence
Preceded by
The Sovereign		 Canadian order of precedence Succeeded by
Members of the Royal Family
other than the Queen
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C3%ABlle_Jean"