Our Royal Connection/s
Away back when Canada was entitled the Dominion of Canada, as part of the vast-ranging British Empire, our connection to Great Britain and its royal house was undeniably a source of pride for Canadians. We enjoyed the exalted presence of a British reigning King's (or as the case may be, Queen's) representative as far back as 1893 when Lord Aberdeen was announced Governor General of Canada.A prestigious succession of quasi-royalty such as the Earl of Minto, the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Byng, and Viscount Willingdon took historical turns representing the British Monarch in this constitutional monarchy of Canada. Even Queen Victoria's son, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught took his turn at the helm of this ship of state, in 1911.
When Canada was deemed to have successfully passed its adolescence as a country we finally had a home-grown Governor General, Vincent Massey. Our very own patrician representing the Crown, in 1952. Selected from among Canada's very own aristocracy, to do us and the Monarchy proud. When Georges Vanier replaced Vincent Massey we had not only an elevated personage, but also one with a truly noble spirit in the Governor General's office.
In more recent times it's been a political agenda that has informed the selection of Governor General. Edward Schreyer was elevated to the office in 1979; a former NDP provincial premier known as "Ed Schreyer", representative of the working class, with his elevation a more dignified version of his name. He was followed by the icily patrician Jeanne Sauve who felt herself elevated to a position deserving of her haughty stature, and she promptly shut down the Governor General's residence and grounds, making them off limits to the common man, as "he" was too common for her tastes.
Ramon Hnatyshyn, yet another politician put out to pasture, was brought in to the position, representing not only the political arena, but also Canada's much-vaunted immigrant origins. For, of course, this is a country built on the hopes and aspirations of immigrants from around the world, as much as by its two "founding nations". Ditto Romeo LeBlanc; another politician, representing one of the founding nations.
Ah, but then Canada became bold and reached out to a visible minority representative, one whose personal aspirations as an cultural artefact was indeniable, a true patron of the arts and letters, one whose immigrant group had been greatly wronged by the Government of Canada during the Second World War. Adrienne Clarkson, one of Canada's intellectual elites, turned out to be a brilliant choice, a caring, personable representative of the Queen in the true tradition of what the office held of value to its society at large. Tagging along with her was husband John Ralston Saul, another lefty intellectual whose polemical world view and publications on governance, ecology, economics, and just incidentally a soupcon of scorn for all things emanating from the United States ensured a frisson of polite scandal, yet they were the vice-regal power couple par excellence.
Not content with filling the office with a visible minority representative of Ms. Clarkson's undeniable media savvy and stature, the next selection brought us another visible minority immigrant, and this time a woman of colour, born in Haiti, and immigrated to this country, and like her predecessor, engaged in the media and the arts. She too had a regal presence and physical beauty on a par with her predecessor. And here's the kicker: Michaelle Jean brought with her Jean-Daniel Lafond, a man whose engagement with the radical left made John Ralston Saul's look centrist by comparison.
Sadly, however, while Governor General Michaelle Jean is proving herself to be equal to her daunting task in this exalted post, the vice-regal consort is in danger of besmirching the very position he has sworn to uphold on behalf of the Queen, Canadians and his wife. His deadly disdain for all things American, his sympathies toward disaffected and downright dangerous political dissidents does a dreadful disservice to all those named.
It is he who has become an embarrassment to the office, and a potential source of real and unfortunate tension between Canada and the United States. And by extension, the United Kingdom, and the Queen herself.
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, May 03, 2006
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