Michaëlle Jean

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Michaëlle Jean in July 2007
Signature of Michaëlle Jean

Michaëlle Jean , CC ( mika.ɛl ʒɑ̃ ; born September 6, 1957 in Port-au-Prince , Haiti ) is a Canadian journalist . She was the 27th Governor General of Canada from September 27, 2005 to September 30, 2010 . In this capacity, she was deputy to the Canadian monarch , Queen Elizabeth II, and ex officio supreme commander of the Canadian armed forces .

Jean was born and raised in Haiti; she and her parents came to Canada as a refugee in 1968 . After graduating, she worked as a journalist and presenter at CBC / Radio-Canada . In addition, she was heavily involved in private aid organizations, particularly in the area of domestic violence . At the suggestion of Prime Minister Paul Martin , she was appointed by the Queen as the first Afro-Canadian Governor General in Canadian history. Since the end of her tenure, Jean has been UNESCO's special ambassador for Haiti. From 2014 to 2018 she was also Secretary General of the Organization of the Francophonie (OIF).

Youth, studies and work

Jean was born in the Haitian city of Port-au-Prince. She spent the winters there, while in the summers and weekends she lived in Jacmel , her mother's home. In 1968 Jean's family fled Haiti to escape the regime of dictator François Duvalier . Her father, a philosophy professor and school principal, was arrested and tortured several times. After arriving in Canada, the family initially lived in a basement apartment in Montreal and later moved to Thetford Mines .

After finishing school, Jean studied Italian, Spanish and literature at the Université de Montréal . During her postgraduate studies in comparative literature , she taught Italian students from 1984 to 1986. She attended other courses at the University of Florence , the University of Perugia and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan . In addition to the Canadian official languages French and English , she speaks fluent Spanish , Italian and Haitian Creole ; she can also read Portuguese .

During her studies , which lasted from 1979 to 1987, Jean worked in a women's refuge , which inspired her to set up more facilities of this type across Canada. She was also involved in aid organizations for the benefit of immigrants. She later served in the Ministry of Employment, Immigration and the Québec Province Cultural Council , where she began writing about immigrant experiences. She married the French- born filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond ; the couple adopted an orphan girl from Jacmel.

From 1988 Jean was a reporter, documentary filmmaker and presenter for Radio Canada . In 1995 she moved to Réseau de l'information (RDI), Radio Canada's news channel, where she hosted several other programs. Four years later, she accepted the offer of moderation on the English-language news channel CBC Newsworld . In 2004 she received her own show, Michaëlle . During the same period, Jean made several documentaries with her husband , including the award-winning Haiti dans tous nos rêves (“Haiti in All Our Dreams”), in which she meets her uncle, the writer René Depestre , among others .

Controversial appointment as governor general

Prime Minister Paul Martin announced on July 4, 2005 that Queen Elizabeth II had accepted his proposal to appoint Michaëlle Jean Governor General. The opposition and the incumbent Governor General Adrienne Clarkson commented benevolently on this decision. The separatist newspaper Le Québécois announced on July 11th that it would expose, in an article yet to be published, Jean and her husband Lafond's support for Québec's independence, in particular Lafond's relationships with former members of the terrorist organization Front de liberation du Québec . Leading politicians asked for information about Jean's political views. Four days later, the Prime Minister clarified that Jean and her husband had undergone a thorough security clearance by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and that there were no concerns about their loyalty.

On August 17th, rumors surfaced that Jean would be seen in a documentary with Québec separatists. On the same day, Jean emphasized that she had never belonged to a political party and that the documentary in question did not concern Québec, but Haiti. Another controversy arose over her dual citizenship (with her marriage she had also become French). The Civil Code forbids French citizens from taking up government or military positions in other countries. On September 25, Jean announced that she had given up her French citizenship.

Administration as governor general

Jean was introduced to office on September 27, 2005. In her inaugural address, she stressed that she would use her office to bridge the divide between Anglophone and Francophone Canadians. She also called for the protection of the environment, the protection of culture from globalization and the end of the marginalization of youth. While Jean's approval rating was still relatively low at the beginning of her tenure - a consequence of the quarrels after the appointment - this improved over time. However, she was in the habit of expressing herself, sometimes with clear words, on the political situation (traditionally the governor general is very cautious). Jean's first state visit took her to Italy in February 2006 . Three months later, she visited her home country Haiti for the first time in her role as representative of the Canadian head of state, where she attended the official inauguration of President René Préval and was enthusiastically received in Jacmel. Due to a thyroid disease , she had to keep her public appearances to a minimum for several months in 2007.

In December 2008, Jean had to cancel a state visit to Europe in order to avert a political crisis in Canada. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ruling Conservative Party did not have a majority in the lower house after the 2008 general election . The opposition parties threatened a vote of no confidence and the formation of a coalition government. Following a precedent, after two hours of deliberation, Jean accepted Harper's request to suspend parliamentary operations until the end of January 2009. Had she refused this request, she would have had the option of either entrusting the opposition to form a government or calling another election after just four months. In December 2009, at Harper's request, Jean issued another controversial suspension of parliamentary operations, which lasted until the end of February 2010. Harper justified this by saying that in view of the economic crisis, the government needed more time to work out an economic plan. The opposition accused the government of simply avoiding uncomfortable questions. These concerned the torture of several Afghan prisoners whom the Canadian military had extradited to the Afghan secret service.

In May 2009, Jean made international headlines when she ate a raw seal heart while visiting the Inuit . In doing so, she positioned herself as an advocate of the controversial seal hunt and set an example against the import ban on Canadian seal products recently issued by the European Union . After the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, which wreaked havoc on her hometowns of Port-au-Prince and Jacmel in particular, Jean did a great deal to help the victims. On February 12, 2010, she opened the Winter Olympics in Vancouver .

In June 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced that he had appointed Jean as UNESCO's special envoy for Haiti. In this role she will help fight poverty and illiteracy in Haiti and collect donations worldwide for the foundation named after her. Jean took up her new position on October 1, 2010; her successor as governor general is David Johnston .

Web links

Commons : Michaëlle Jean  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Canadian troops will focus aid on town with deep ties to GG Michaelle Jean. Canada East, January 18, 2010, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  2. ↑ a b c d In depth: Governor general Michaëlle Jean. CBC News, October 11, 2005, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  3. ^ Governor-General shares grief with BC Haitians. The Globe and Mail , February 10, 2010, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  4. ↑ Rideau Hall pick disappoints separatist hard-liners. (No longer available online.) The Globe and Mail, Aug 11, 2005, archived from the original on Feb 12, 2015 ; accessed on September 30, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.freedominion.ca
  5. ↑ Martin defends viceregal couple's loyalty. The Globe and Mail, August 13, 2005, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  6. ^ Statement by Paul Martin on the Governor General-Designate. (No longer available online.) Office of the Prime Minister, archived from the original on June 10, 2008 ; accessed on September 30, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pm.gc.ca
  7. ^ New governor general to give up French citizenship. CBC News, September 25, 2005, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  8. ^ Passion and Tears: Jean Sworn In. (No longer available online.) The Gazette , September 28, 2005, archived from the original April 4, 2006 ; accessed on September 30, 2010 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.canada.com
  9. ↑ 'Your biggest problem is Rideau Hall,' top bureaucrat warned Harper. The Globe and Mail, April 24, 2007, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  10. ^ Governor General visits her family's hometown in Haiti. CBC News, May 16, 2006, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  11. ^ Thyroid problem forced Governor General to miss work. CBC News, April 26, 2007, accessed September 30, 2010 .
  12. ^ GG agrees to suspend Parliament until January. CBC News, December 4, 2008, accessed October 1, 2010 .
  13. ↑ PM 'shutting democracy down,' says Easter. CBC News, December 31, 2009, accessed October 1, 2010 .
  14. ↑ Governor General's seal snack sparks controversy. CBC News, May 26, 2009, accessed October 1, 2010 .
  15. ^ Governor-General lands in Port-au-Prince for two-day tour. The Globe and Mail, May 7, 2010, accessed October 1, 2010 .
  16. ^ Governor-General's next role will be special envoy for UN. The Globe and Mail, June 21, 2010, accessed October 1, 2010 .
personal data
SURNAME Jean, Michaëlle
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian journalist and Governor General
DATE OF BIRTH September 6, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Port-au-Prince , Haiti