The UN, New York City, August 4, 2005

Today, Canada had a double “whammy”!

FIRST: when the news from the ceremonies following the enthronement of Abdullah, the sixth monarch to lead the oil-rich Saudi kingdom, hit the newspapers, it became known that the only woman to be present at the reception for foreign dignitaries, was the Canadian deputy prime-minister, Mrs. Anne Mc.Lellan.

The Toronto Star, in its article “A Canadian woman in Abdullah’s court”, writes: “Standing alongside her Canadian cabinet colleagues, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew, the unscarved Mc.Lellan met the king’s steady gaze. Their hands came together. For not just a handshake, but a handshake broadcast live on Saudi national television.”

“There was a strength about him, a resoluteness, ” McLellan said of the encounter. “The thing that I found interesting, even with me a woman, he looked me straight in the eye. There was no looking away … he seemed very engaged, very sharp. Not a young man, but a man of considerable strength.”

The papers in the US did not report on the woman present in the room, but only on the Swedish king, Prince Charles, Tony Blair and Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Now we know that the US Vice President sits on the oil barrel, but would it not have been much more important to have there also present the US Secretary of State - the woman Condoleezza Rice, because of the fact that the Saudi’s are a US foreign policy problem? After all, with the handler of Osama Bin Laden as the new Saudi Ambassador in Washington, and Professor Rice as the point-woman for US policy in the Middle East, her presence at the event for the dignitaries would have made sense — it would have been more then just demonstrating our way of life.

For the Saudis, the greater importance came in the previous two days “bayah” ceremony that was closed to non-muslims. That is where the hundreds of tribal sheiks, religious leaders, government officials, uniformed military commanders, came to offer their fealty to Abdullah. The third day, with the dignitary present, allowed, if nothing else, for meetings between those dignitaries.

SECOND: a Haitian-born black woman journalist, Michelle Jean, was appointed to become the 27th Governor-General (the Queen’s next representative in Canada, but appointed by the Canadian Prime-Minister). The Toronto Star raves: “What a tribute to multiculturalism” — “With her background, her intelligence and her skills, our new governor general will act as a shining beacon — the best of what Canada represents… this astonishing appointment sends out a message to the rest of the world of ideals all nations should aspire to.”

The Winnipeg Free Press illuminates this appointment: “the role of the governor general, as she is usually seen in public, is largely ceremonial, a public-relations function performed to make Canadians feel closer to their country. But the other function of the governor general is far more serious, far more important. The prime minister of Canada represents the government and the political party that runs it at the moment. The governor general represents the nation, represents all Canadians and her function is to protect them from government in the rare moments when such protection is needed … In June, Canada, came close to a constitutional crisis when Prime Minister Paul Martin’s government lost a vote of confidence and then claimed that it was a not a vote of confidence. In the end the issue was not referred to the governor general. Had it been, Adrienne Clarkson (the out-going governor general that was also an immigrant woman) would have had to decide whether to retain the government, dismiss government and appoint a new one, or call an election.”

Michaelle Jean, 48 years old, is now a Francophone Quebecer. She and her family fled Haiti in 1968 and settled in Canada. She studied at the University of Montreal, as well as universities in Italy, and speaks French, English, Spanish, Italian and Haitian Creole fluently. She also had a distinguished broadcasting career on both the CBC’s English and French networks, and has won accolades for her documentary work. Her husband is a documentary film maker and they have a 6-year old daughter. She stated that she wants every child everywhere to know it is possible to have a dream and pursue that dream.