MONTREAL, August 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is being accused of once again pandering to Quebec for votes with the appointment of a woman with separatist leagnings as the new Governor General of Canada.ÂThe appointment demonstrates a contempt for Canadians outside Quebec andÂrelies on the apathy of the Canadian public.
In a weekend column appearing in the National Post, Andrew Coyne suggested that Michaelle Jean, the “second rank” CBC reporter recently appointed to be Canada’s next Governor General, is a holder of dual French and Canadian citizenship and has, at best, divided loyalties.
The Governor General is the official representative of the British Crown and as such must, says Coyne, “have a conspicuous record of commitment to the country, passionate and undivided.”
The Governor General-Elect’s possible support of the dissolution of the state she will shortly head, was again highlighted in the separatist newspaper, Le Quebecois on Monday. The paper pointed to quotes by Jean recorded in a 1993 book by her husband, film maker Jean Daniel Lafond, in which she said, “you don’t give independence, you take it.”
Such rhetoric, given while the soon-to-be Governor General was still a broadcaster with the CBC, is in line with the extreme elements in Quebec that advocate uprisings to secure Quebec sovereignty.
In the book, Lafond wrote, “A sovereign Quebec? An independent Quebec? Yes, I applaud with both hands.”
“It is now clear that it’s the couple that has long maintained relationships with FLQ members and independence supporters, and not only Jean-Daniel Lafond,” Le Quebecois said in a news release.
As Coyne pointed out in his Saturday column, “At the press conference following her elevation…(Jean) could not even bring herself to say whether she supports the monarchy, preferring neutral statements of fact—it exists, it is ‘our oldest institution.’”
Prime Minister Paul Martin assured Canadians that thorough background checks were made on Jean and her husband. Some say it is inescapable that the appointment was made with full knowledge and the expectation of the controversy.
Read coverage in Le Quebecois (in French):
https://www.lequebecois.org/
(Google-translated page)
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=https://www.lequebecois.org/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DLe%2BQuebecois%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGGLD,GGLD:2004-27,GGLD:en
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