Our governor general, Michaelle Jean, has been like no other before her.
Her emotional call to action on Jan. 13, the day after her former homeland, Haiti, had been crushed by an earthquake, stirred our souls. It would be an exaggeration to say her plea for Canadians to help the “most vulnerable people in the Americas” was in any way the main catalyst that spurred Canadians to organize en masse to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti in the wake of the catastrophic quake, but it certainly served to unlock our emotions and set the tone for what followed.
It’s hard to believe some blackhearts cringed at the sight of her tears that day, including one gentleman who wrote to the Globe and Mail calling her behaviour a “disgrace.” But most – almost all, I am sure – were appreciative that we have one national leader at least who is not a stoneface. She is one of us.
Well, except that she is such an exceptional woman. As I contemplated her performance on the job, I recalled a day back in the summer of 2006 when I sat down across a desk from her in a Toronto hotel for an interview. She was less than a year into the job, having spent those first months attempting to “get a sense” of the country, she said.
Jean spoke softly but emphatically, leaning forward to communicate her points. And she made a bold promise – that unlike previous occupants of the job, and in defiance of the constitutional restraints imposed on her, she would make a real difference during her term.
A respected political science professor I talked to at the time, Nelson Wiseman of the University of Toronto, was skeptical.
“I don’t know what kind of change she thinks she going to make. I think she will impact the individuals and groups she meets, because for a lot of them that’s the closest they’ve come to someone with this kind of formal authority. But she doesn’t have the ability to spend one more cent on refugee resettlement or on women’s shelters. She can speak on those issues.
“She can say, Watch me, I’m going to do all these things. Oh yeah? What are you going to do, are you going to create a child-care program? Are you going to provide more funds for refugees or for immigrant settlement? You can’t say that. You can try to make people feel good about themselves and their contributions and you can try to make stirring speeches.
“But you can’t even go to Afghanistan to see the troops unless the government wants you to. You can of course review your own troops here, but that never makes the media. Big deal, so there is another seven-gun salute.”
How wrong he was.
Wiseman underestimated the power of her moral suasion. Photos of the GG wearing full military uniform as the Canadian Forces Commander-in-Chief – reviving an old practice – showed solidarity with the troops at a time when many Canadians are antipathetic to our mission in Afghanistan. To confirm the point, she also spoke directly in support the troops and their goals.
We observed, discussed, analyzed – and so practising good citizenship.
Even at her investiture, she spoke of bringing an end to an era of “Two Solitudes” in Canada, to the upset of Quebec sovereigntists. Not only should English and French Canada look past old grievances, she was saying, but her very presentation – young, Caribbean-born, a woman, black – suggested that a modern, multicultural Canada might seek new solutions to its problems.
When on a visit to Nunavut in 2009 she ate raw seal meat, the photogenic viceregent made a clear statement to champion native hunters and culture at a time when Europe was rejecting their seal hunt. Canadians debated – and mostly approved.
And now, Haiti, and a potential new role for the governor general. In future months as Canadians start to focus on what is needed to encourage stability and growth in that perpetually shattered society, we urge our governor general to lead the debate. At the time of our conversation, four years ago, Jean offered insight into how discussions should proceed. Haitians should take control of their own future, she said (i.e. hands off, self-serving U.S. corporate interests). She had visited Haiti in triumph earlier that year and her message to them, as told to me, was:
“Take hope and take your responsibilities. I am here to say that Canada will come to the aid of the Haitian people but the solution (to lawlessness, poverty and victimization by foreign influences, she had listed) has to come from the Haitian people.
“And also, one thing that had to be said is, what has to come to an end in this country is selfishness, the feeling of everybody for himself and his clan. And now, the importance of working together for the good of the majority.”
