Interesting change of guards in Canada

Lincoln Robinson, Contributor

Toronto, Canada: Canada's 'hot' female governor general, Haitian-born Michaelle Jean wound up her five-year tour of duty September 28 with a round of ceremonial activities and a farewell address to parliamentarians at which interestingly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and many of his Conservative colleagues were conspicuously absent.

Political analysts say the absence of Prime Minister Harper from the GG's farewell session with parliamentarians was particularly significant as it was Ms Jean, appointed to the job by former Liberal prime minister, Paul Martin, who in 2008 saved Harper's skin as it were, by granting his request to prorogue Parliament and thereby prevent his government's defeat at the hands of a Liberal-led coalition.

Back then, Prime Minister Harper had to wait some two hours for Ms Jean's decision following his request that she prorogue Parliament.

The request to the GG, as we all know, could have been denied, but to have done so would undoubtedly have set off a major constitutional and political crisis, as it would have nullified a seven-week old election result. Some analysts describe Jean's two-hour delay in communicating her decision to the prime minister as a power move but nonetheless the right constitutional call.

Reflecting on the gravity of her decision two years ago, and about which she spoke publicly for the first time on the eve of her demitting office, Michaelle Jean said the idea of the two-hour wait for her decision to Harper's request was not ' to create artificial suspense' but to 'send a message and for people to understand that this warranted reflection.' Staying clear of specifics as is to be expected on such matters, the former GG said 'collectively, we participated in something that will take us a step further, maybe, in the necessity of understanding our institutional reality and our political systems.'

There is no doubt Michaelle Jean's appointment - itself a defining moment in Canada's political history and certainly not without controversy and her fateful decision to grant Harper's request in December 2008 have served to change the course of Canadian history. At the time of her appointment, Ms Jean faced much public backlash. She was forced among other things to revoke her dual citizenship with France (being Haitian-born Canadian) and also she had to renounce any separatist sympathies linked to her film-maker husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond.

More than a pretty face

A black Haitian-Canadian, Michaelle Jean, an accomplished woman, is more than a pretty face, even though it was she herself who jokingly made the remark that the real reason Paul Martin appointed her to the job was because she was 'hot'. During her five years in the job, she touched the hearts of many Canadians; she brought grace, dignity and charm to the post; her emotional pleas for help to Haiti in the wake of this year's devastating earthquake; her remaining popularity in Canada and high level of respect internationally, are some of her other enduring legacies. Hardly surprising, she will now serve as UNESCO envoy to her native land, Haiti.

On October 1, a new Canadian governor general - David Johnston, educator and immediate past president of the University of Waterloo assumed duties.

He had given up his almost half -a- million dollar a year university job and positions on several private and not - for- profit boards to become Canada's 28th governor general with a salary of under CDN$130,000. Almost immediately, there was more than a hint that the new GG had a 'tough job ahead' of him. If for no other reason, he too could well face the prospect of trying to avert a constitutional crisis, as given the current political climate in Canada the new GG could well be called upon to decide who forms the government if the next election, expected in the Spring of 2011, produces another minority Parliament, as is widely expected.

With minority governments the norm in Canada these days, analysts believe the new GG could find himself having to weather a 'very difficult political storm' . The chances of either Mr Harper's Conservatives or the Liberal's Michael Ignatieff securing an outright majority are slim. A repeat scenario of Harper going to the new GG to seek a dissolution of Parliament after the next general election is a distinct possibility and a Liberal coalition could well request of the GG that it forms the government.

It is certainly a situation that speaks of interesting times as Canada changes the guards.

Lincoln Robinson served as former press secretary to Portia Simpson Miller. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.