A MODERN ROLE MODEL: GOVERNOR GENERAL MICHAELLE JEAN

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/>5. (U) Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor

General of Canada, was sworn in on September 27, 2005. She is

Canada's 27th Governor General and is the third successive

journalist to be appointed to the post. Madame Jean is Canada's

first Governor General of African/Caribbean heritage, the first

refugee, and the second (after her immediate predecessor, Adrienne

Clarkson) "visible minority" Canadian in this position. She has

made disadvantaged youth and "breaking the solitudes" among racial,

linguistic, and cultural and gender groups in Canada her main

outreach priorities.



6. (U) Madame Jean was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on September

6, 1957. In 1968, she and her family fled Haiti as political

refugees and settled in Quebec, where she was raised by her (single)

mother. Madame Jean earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian and

Hispanic languages and literature from the Universite de Montreal,

studied toward a Master of Arts degree in comparative literature

there, and, from 1984 to 1986, taught at the university's Faculty of

Italian Studies. She went on to study linguistics and literature at

the University of Perugia, the University of Florence, and the

Catholic University of Milan. She is fluent in five languages

(French, English, Italian, Spanish, and Haitian Creole) and has a

reading knowledge of Portuguese.



7. (U) In 1988, Madame Jean joined Radio-Canada (the French-language

service of Canada's national broadcaster) and enjoyed an

Qservice of Canada's national broadcaster) and enjoyed an

award-winning career as a journalist and host of a wide range of

news and public affairs programs in French and English. Together

with her husband, she also produced documentaries, including three

critically-acclaimed films on the 40th anniversary of the Cuban

revolution, the experience of being a person of color in Quebec, and

reflections on her Haitian homeland. She has a life-long interest in

helping women and children who are victims of domestic violence.

Madame Jean and Mr. Lafond have one six-year old daughter,

Marie-Eden, whom they adopted in Haiti. Mr. Lafond has two adult

daughters from a previous marriage and two grandchildren.



POPULAR CHOICE. . .



8. (SBU) In 2005, Liberal then-Prime Minister Paul Martin's choice

of Michaelle Jean as Governor General came as a surprise to many

Canadians; Martin, however, lauded Jean as a woman of talent and

achievement whose "personal story is nothing short of extraordinary"

and who is uniquely qualified "to represent all of Canada to all

Canadians and to the rest of the world." Most commentators welcomed

the symbolism of her appointment, despite some doubts about her



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political inexperience at a time of minority government, a minor

controversy over her husband's alleged sovereignist sympathies, and

criticism from the separatist Bloc Quebecois and Quebec

sovereignists who saw the appointment as a Liberal ploy to gain

seats in Quebec, especially among the large Haitian diaspora in

Montreal. However, federalists outside Quebec hailed her as an

"inspired" choice who would "be a voice for Canada in Quebec and

represent the new Quebec to the rest of Canada."



. . . BUT NO LONGER STRANGER TO CONTROVERSY



9. (SBU) Jean is an inspirational and charismatic figure who has

carried out her ceremonial duties with grace and style. She stepped

into uncharted constitutional waters on December 4, when she acceded

to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's request to suspend ("prorogue")

Parliament briefly in order to avoid a vote of confidence in the

House of Commons, which the government would have lost (reftel).

The concern remains that she will again face a delicate choice in

the coming year between calling a new election and asking the

Liberal and New Democratic parties to form a virtually unprecedented

coalition, should the government lose any upcoming confidence vote.

As a result, some political commentators have stepped up their calls

for future Governors General to have greater experience or training

in constitutional affairs at a time when Canada likely faces

continued minority government.



10. (SBU) Madame Jean and Prime Minister Harper appear to have a

cordial but cool relationship. Some Conservatives reportedly suspect

her private sympathies lean to the center left of the political

spectrum, and have suggested her husband's alleged separatist

sentiments may influence her own political views. Prior to the

constitutional crisis in December, Prime Minister Harper had already

reportedly discontinued the convention of regular, confidential

vice-regal briefings to update the Governor General on political

events and views. The lack of consultation underscores the largely

ceremonial aspect of her role, but also increases her

unpredictability in view of the office's theoretically important

constitutional powers.

WILKINS