A Surprise Governor-General

ik - I have a lot of respect for Jean's work. But is she federalist enough? I hope Martin knows what he's doing.

PM picks Quebecer, Haitian immigrant as next GG

CTV.ca News Staff

The new Governor-General of Canada will be an award-winning journalist who was born in Haïti and immigrated to Quebec as a child. Michaelle Jean will also be the youngest person to ever serve as the Queen's representative in Canada.

Jean, 47, has worked for CBC and Radio-Canada since 1988. She is currently the host of the Newsworld documentary series, The Passionate Eye. She presents a similar series on the French-language news channel, RDI.

Her name did not appear on any of the speculative "short lists" published in newspaper columns in recent months. In fact, Jean has a relatively low public profile in English Canada.

The more high-profile Adrienne Clarkson, who also came to the job from CBC-TV, is stepping down in September after serving six years at Rideau Hall.

"It sounds like another Adrienne Clarkson type appointment," John Aimers of the Monarchist League told CTV. "Someone who has not been involved in politics who comes from the world of media, who has obviously a compelling life story."

Jean will become Canada's 27th governor general at a pivotal time in politics, with the Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberals into their second year of a minority government.

The appointment of a Quebecer seemed inevitable – it was Quebec's turn, the Martin couldn't afford to ignore the province. Liberals aren't polling well in the province, and there are federal and provincial elections expected next year.

Jean will be the first Quebecer to be governor general since Jeanne Sauve served from 1984 to 1990.

Jean's CBC bio says she speaks five languages fluently (French, English, Spanish, Italian and Haitian Creole). She has studied at the University of Montreal, plus universities in Florence, Milan and Perugia, Italy.

Jean's family fled Haiti during the reign of Francois ("Baby Doc") Duvalier, and she is the niece of a well-known Haitian writer, Rene Depestre, who chronicled his country's social and political problems.

Clarkson suffered criticism for her spending while in office -- the budget jumped 70 per cent over her six years. But Clarkson's defenders say she opened up Rideau Hall to more visitors, handed out more awards and travelled extensively across Canada.

While she received occasional darts for her junkets overseas, laurels came her way for extensive travels to Canada's far north, and her New Year's holidays with Canadian troops serving in the Arabian Sea and Afghanistan.

Jean, who has a six-year-old daughter with filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond, may have that same kind of star power in Quebec.

"She's a model of integration," says Quebec MP Denis Coderre. "She's a francophone. It sends a good message of symbolism."