Lets' put an end to the Racism of "Two Solitudes"

by The Canadian Editorial Staff

"No more solitudes" is the motto Michaëlle Jean has chosen to launch herself as Canada's first black Governor General, with a ceremony that turned the normally staid Parliament Hill into a lively street festival.

Jean's installation and debut address to the nation yesterday left little doubt about the stamp she wants to put on her office - a governor general with an edge, in a nation without borders, language or otherwise.

Declaring that Canada is no longer a nation simply of the traditional "two solitudes" between French and English, Jean simultaneously fired back at doubters of her federalist credentials, and cast her eyes ahead to the kind of Canada over which she would like to preside for the next five years.

And she called Canada a place where the dreams of millions of people have come true, including hers.

The Jean family escaped a brutal regime that tortured her father in Haiti.

"The story of that little girl, who watched her parents, her family, and her friends grappling with the horrors of a ruthless dictatorship, who became the woman standing before you today, is a lesson in learning to be free.

"I know how precious that freedom is, I know what a legacy it is for every child, for every citizen of this country. I, whose ancestors were slaves, who was born into a civilization long reduced to whispers and cries of pain, know something about its price, and I know too what a treasure it is for us all."

Her main message was the end of the "two solitudes."

"The time of the "two solitudes" that for too long described the character of this country is past," Jean said, repeating her message in English and in French.

"The narrow notion of 'every person for himself' does not belong in today's world, which demands that we learn to see beyond our wounds, beyond our differences for the good of all. Quite the contrary: We must eliminate the spectre of all the solitudes and promote solidarity among all the citizens who make up the Canada of today. As well, we must make good use of our prosperity and our influence wherever the hope that we represent offers the world an extra measure of harmony."

The former Radio-Canada journalist also used the all-too-current events of Hurricane Katrina - and a pointed reference to the disproportionate losses suffered by poor blacks in Louisiana and Mississippi - to stress the attention she intends to pay to the state of racial relations in Canada and beyond.

"I know that our planet is fragile, and that natural disasters like the one that recently assailed our American neighbours are a brutal reminder of that fragility. And we have seen so many lose their possessions," Jean said.

"And as is universally the case in such circumstances, we have seen emerge entire segments of a population among the most destitute, men and women who had nowhere to go. Dispossessed, with no points of reference, facing sheer devastation, even utter dismay. Such images we have seen before - from Darfur, from Haiti, from Niger. And this time they came from New Orleans, from the margins of an affluent society."

Jean, who has kept a low profile since being appointed as the designate last August - even through one controversy over whether she was a separatist and another over her now-renounced dual French citizenship - wasted no time setting the tone once she formally assumed the post in a ceremony almost two hours long.

Her first official act? She went dancing.

With Prime Minister Paul Martin swaying somewhat awkwardly beside her, Canada's newest Governor General danced and clapped her hands above her head to the inspired music of the People's Gospel Choir of Montreal. Soaring voices filled the usually silent and staid Senate foyer.

The event schedule called for the official delegation to "pause to acknowledge the performers." It didn't say anything about dancing.

But it was that kind of day on Parliament Hill yesterday, as stuffy protocol took a back seat to sheer celebration.

Wearing a simple black fitted jacket, white blouse and long, slim black skirt, Jean wept openly when the music played. Her hands shook when she spoke, and she giggled at the more archaic parts of the proceedings - when asked to assume the throne-like seat in the Senate chamber, for example, or when she had to solemnly assure the safekeeping of the royal seal of Canada.

At 48, one of Canada's youngest governors-general, Jean set her office on a course that some predicted would also forge a bridge to yet another disaffected group in Canadian society - youth.

Jean herself reserved some of her words for young people, especially those living in poverty or without hope.

"Nothing in today's society is more disgraceful than the marginalization of some young people who are driven to isolation and despair. We must not tolerate such disparities. After all, our young people are helping to redefine the great family we all belong to, in a world that is less and less impermeable, more and more open," she said. "They are the promise of our future and we have a duty to encourage them to join us in this reinvention of the world."

Dignitaries on hand for the ceremony included former Ontario premier David Peterson; David Wilkins, the U.S. ambassador to Canada; Frank McKenna, Canada's ambassador in Washington; Danny Williams, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador; former Liberal cabinet ministers Lloyd Axworthy and Stan Keyes. Today, Jean will meet at Rideau Hall with Canada's provincial lieutenant governors.

With so much of the regal event dictated by protocol, the entertainment was the one part Jean had a hand in planning. She picked performers that reflected the "diversity of Canada," said Canadian Heritage spokesman Donald Boulanger.

And the performers were a hit. Singer Elisapie Isaac and guitarist Alain Auger of Taïma played as they sauntered past Supreme Court justices and cabinet ministers, like the Senate was some nightclub cabaret.

Later, Slainte Mhath, a Cape Breton group, filled the rotunda in Centre Block with toe-tapping Celtic tunes. Jean bounced daughter Marie-Eden on her lap as husband slapped his knees.

As Jean took her place atop the throne in the Senate, marking her installation as Governor General, she seemed in awe of the spectacle surrounding her, and humbled by the prolonged applause of the Senate crowd.

Outgoing governor general Adrienne Clarkson broke with tradition and attended the installation service with husband John Ralston Saul to "show the continuity of the office."

The public galleries were filled with Jean's guests, reflecting a diversity not often seen in official Ottawa.