A Celebration of Women
sends our blessings and love to this, WOMAN of ACTION, Michaelle Jean, a woman that has stepped down on this final day as the Governor General of CANADA. The women of our world are thankful for these last five years of devoted service. Not only has this woman offered inspiration to thousands of women worldwide, she has broken ground in many areas of life; including environment, gender equity, heritage, politics, racism, suffrage, and more…
May God Bless all Your Future Endeavours…
Adieu, Mme. Michaelle Jean!
WOMAN of ACTION
Michaelle Jean
Canada’s Governor General Michaelle Jean says goodbye this 29th day of September, 2010.
May Archangel Michael watch over you always, as you ‘change robes’ on this, his Celebration Day.
OTTAWA — Canada’s Governor General Michaelle Jean on Wednesday praised the military in her final address as acting head of state and commander in chief.
On Friday, legal scholar David Johnston, 69, will be installed as Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in Canada at a ceremony in the senate chamber.
Jean, Canada’s first black governor general, was born in Port-au-Prince in 1957. A Haitian refugee who fled Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier’s regime when she was 11 years old, she said donning a military uniform as commander in chief was a “hardly insignificant” gesture for her.
Jean noted “having grown up under the yoke of a merciless dictatorship, where military uniforms were associated with the brutal repression of the population“.
But, she added, working with Canada’s military to “build peace, provide emergency assistance, and taking part in reconstruction efforts around the world… has given me a true measure of the integrity, courage and generosity of the members of Canada’s military.”
On Tuesday, Jean bid farewell to parliamentarians, noting that during her term as Canada’s 27th governor general, “parliamentary life in this country has been rather eventful, to say the least.”
In December 2008, Jean averted a constitutional crisis by granting Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s request to prorogue Parliament, buying him time to regroup as opposition parties readied to defeat his minority Conservative government and install a leftist coalition.
One year later, she granted Harper another request to suspend Parliament, allowing him to escape an opposition onslaught over the military’s handling of detainees in Afghanistan.
Over the past five years, Jean made 40 official trips abroad, 121 visits to various parts of Canada, gave 704 speeches and wrote 82 blogs.
She is Canada’s first governor general to have a Facebook page and a Twitter account, as well as having chatted with Canadians online.
On Thursday, Jean, accompanied by her husband and daughter, will plant a bur oak tree on the grounds of Rideau Hall to commemorate the end of her mandate — a tradition started in 1906 with the visit of Prince Arthur of Connaught.
It will be the 128th tree planted on the 32-hectare (79 acres) grounds of the governor general’s official residence marking visits by members of Britain’s royal family, heads of state and other dignitaries, as well as the end of a governor general’s mandate.
After her term ends, Jean will serve as UNESCO’s special envoy for Haiti.Days after a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, a visibly distraught Jean called on her former compatriots in a televised message in Creole to “stand firm.”
By Michel Comte (AFP) – 29-09-10.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.
READ MORE BELOW
Ottawa Citizen: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Jean+sent+message+during+crisis/3594179/story.html
Montreal Gazete: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Parliamentarians+outgoing+warm+goodbye/3592861/story.html
Globe & Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/jean-had-hidden-message-in-prorogation-