[michaëlle jean] hot haitian in top role

The maple leaf motif in the top left corner is courtesy of All Postersdotcom.

The first thing is that she's undoubtedly "hot", there's no getting away from it - the Segie tradition rolls on.

Online to all Canadians

She connects with the young very well - here is her official site and here is her personal website, Citizen Voices, where you can contact her.

Then it seems, she has not done too much wrong in her first years in the role, judging by asides and the lack of press on the issue. She even seems to have laid the separatist ghost:

Jean's father, Roger Anthony Jean, who moved his family from Haiti to Quebec four decades ago, clearly was offended by earlier suggestions that his daughter had sympathized with Quebec separatists.

"That's a lie," he declared. "She has never been a separatist. Never. Never. Never."

The Throne Address with Stephen Harper, who is supposedly not all that enamoured of the GG.

There's apparently something called the Travers column in Canada and when I read this:

"Michaëlle Jean once joked that Paul Martin chose her as governor general because she's "hot". It's not so funny now that Stephen Harper has her on ice."

… it soured her a bit for me, if she truly did say that. It seems as pratty as John Lennon's quip about the Beatles being more popular than Jesus Christ.

Are beauty, intelligence and personal achievement enough?

The Travers column further debated PM Harper's less than warm relations with the GG:

At most, it suggests that the Conservatives do not respect the GG because she lacks qualifications *other* than being a good looking woman and an immigrant. The article *does* emphasize that the GG is treading on thin constitutional ice with her meddling in political affairs.

So, not everyone appears to love her. The Globe & Mail invited reader comments and here is one by Thomas Baxter:

1 First and foremost, the Governor-General is not the head-of-state of Canada, nor the "queen" of Canada, but only the representative of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The out-going Governor-General often usurped her role, and also the one she was supposed to represent. Adrienne Clarkson went on tours masquerading as the head-of-state. She was seen in public, captured on camera, upstaging the Queen, and failing to meet protocol.

Michaëlle's own coat of arms

When the official papers were prepared for former N.B. premier, Frank McKenna, to report as Canada's Ambassador to the United States, the Queen's name was removed and the papers were sent on behalf of the Governor-General. The government has no such power. The Opposition parties should have screamed loudly. The Governor-General should have sent these papers back to be re-written before she signed them.

Michaëlle seems to be fairing better than Adrienne [so far]

I checked out Adrienne Clarkson and she does seem to have been pretty appalling, apart from being a "devout Anglican". She seems to have been full of her role and a spendthrift to boot:

Under her tenure, the office's spending increased almost 200%...

So what to make of Michaëlle Jean? Here is another comment:

2 Another woman, another media person, and another who was not born in Canada. Surely, there must be some Canadian born person that could represent the Queen? [Susan Marsh]

Perhaps it's still too early to say whether she has graced Rideau Hall, something less or something more. Canada has clearly gone modern, which might be in keeping with a "new nation" but the role and the magnificent mansion surely demand a certain gravitas and "presence" in the incumbent.

We can't judge solely from the photo below but it's an indicator. Does she have the necessary gravitas [she's the one centre front, next to the large lady in white]?