Saturday, October 15, 2005

It's a Question of Loyalty Your Excellency

Our new Governor-General has given her first interview while in office. According to the Ottawa Citizen (via Neale News ) she was "hurt" by criticisms that she is a separatist who voted for the independence of Quebec.

As someone whose role called for her to bite her tongue in order to remain removed from politics, Ms. Jean says it was her daughter, Marie-Eden, who emerged as a source of strength. "There were moments when she saw me sometimes a bit sad because there were days where some things that were being
said about me really hurt me,'' Ms. Jean recalls.


In her first public comments on the controversy that threatened to dog her term, Ms. Jean makes clear the attacks and the allegations were not only deeply partisan, but also completely out of context. "I think they were playing games with that,'' she said. "Yes, I think the idea was really to build an image of me that they knew would really frighten the rest of Canada, of course, of course. "And unfortunately, since we don't know each other well, I think some people really fell into that kind of a trap. It was a very mean strategy.''

But what, then, of the now infamous clip from her husband's documentary in which she, in the company of former FLQ members, lifts her glass to independence? What exactly was she toasting? In Ms. Jean's mind, it is not only too simple, but also fundamentally wrong to take that toast, in a documentary touching on broad notions of freedom and slavery as seen through the poet Aime Cesaire, as being in favour of Quebec's separatist movement.

"And what we were there for was to talk about that Haitian experience. And how that aspiration to freedom has been manipulated for years by dictators,'' says the former CBC journalist.

While Ms. Jean will explain herself and her role in her husband's documentary, which way she voted in the Quebec referendum, which this month marks its 10th anniversary, is a no-go zone.

"You want to know how I vote in '95?'' Ms. Jean begins, then pausing and looking away for a moment. "In the voting booth, like every Quebecer, this is how I voted. As a citizen, with clear ideas about where she belongs and who she is and what she wants. That's all. And there was no way that I was going to just break that fundamental principle of secrecy of vote. It's something that's very personal to everyone. And it's a civic responsibility.''

Sorry Your Excellency, that doesn't cut it. You may well have the legal right to keep your vote to yourself, but you are the representative of the Canadian Crown and Canadians have a right to expect you'll be straight with us on this matter.

I simply cannot imagine a loyal Canadian citizen, who voted against Quebec's separation from Canada, fudging an answer to this central question. You and your husband are under a cloud of your own making. It's what happens when you engage in terrorist chic. Until you answer the question honestly and unequivocally, I cannot support you. And neither will many Canadians.

2 Comments:

At 10:43 pm, October 15, 2005 , Blogger Candace said...

I agree. I have no qualms about which way I vote or who I voted for in the past, nor would I if GG. Classic Liberal response IMHO.

 
At 11:32 pm, October 17, 2005 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

John the Mad:

You probably already know this, but your site name translates into French as "Jean le Fou" which is an appelation that may be more appropriate to the subject of this discussion.

And speaking of her excellency,
the vacuity continues unabated. She is about to embark on her first "adventure" as GG by favouring us poor Manitobans with her enlightened presence. Perhaps she intends to use us as practice for when she eventually will encounter the real hot beds of western alienation.

From the Winnipeg Free Press of October 17, 2005:

"Michaƫlle Jean says she chose Manitoba to begin her "adventure" as Governor General because of the lessons she learned there two decades ago which are now helping fuel her vice-regal mission.

'I think Manitoba is very important because geographically it is at the centre of the country so I thought this is probably where we have to start," Jean told the Free Press in her exclusive first interview as Governor General.


"I can connect to Manitoba from my own experiences and history. I remember my first trip to Manitoba was 20 years ago when I was involved with shelters for battered woman.' "

Somehow I don't think she intends to connect with those battered (and murdered) by her (former?) companions. At least not publicly.

 

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