OT: Our new Governor General.

Don't assume.

The daughter, named Marie-Eden, is adopted. The man is her husband, Jean-Daniel Lafond, a filmmaker, who has two daughters by a previous marriage.

Jallan

Good grief - finally you have something nice to say about a refugee! Now what if she had come to Canada wearing the hajib ? Presumably she should have been shunned, thrown back out, or made to conform!

I expect however she is a nice RC so she is acceptable - s i g h !

I don't like how you pick and choose and on the worst of grounds.

I have made ***EXTREMELY*** clear my criteria for what I find acceptable and unacceptable. If the person concerned is *FIRST AND FOREMOST" a Canadian, and *anything* else a distant second, then they are more than welcome to come and live in this wonderful country, IMHO. However, if they are something other than a Canadian first, I would much rather they left. How can I make this any clearer?

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"

I hear clearly what you are saying, but you also make it clear that Muslim women, in order to appear Canadian, should not wear the hajib.

It's foolishness, probably the ones that have terrorist sympathies do NOT wear it, thus you are no wiser than you were before. I always wear my kilt on Burns, St. Andrew's and NY - it makes me feel very Scottish but it doesn't make me less a Canadian.

Yes, Jim, remember, it was Adrienne who had to get married so she wouldn't be 'living in sin' during her stint as the Queen's rep. :)

I think Michaelle Jean looks like she'll be dynamite. It will be neat to have a child at Rideau Hall again (not since the Shreibers in the '70). It should make for a lively place.

I also found it interesting that Mme Jean would only agree to take the post if there was a good public school nearby for her daughter to attend

- no private school or home schooling for her - she wants her daughter to be fully involved in the community.

Marg

Again you are wrong. My point has always been that the only international terrorist threat is Muslim based; and this is the only terrorist threat which menaces Canada. The most likely attack in Canada would seem to be from a sleeper cell, hiding from our authorities amongst those who put their loyalty towards fellow Muslims, as more important than their loyalty to Canada. So a community that may harbour terrorists, is where the danger lies. And that community is one where there are significant numbers of fundamentalist Muslims. One, and only one, of the signs of a community of fundamentalist Muslims, is ladies wearing Muslim headscarves. And I have written this thesis many times on rctn. There is absolutely no reason why people in Canada cannot be Canadian first, and Muslim second. My fear is that there are too many Muslims in Canada who are Muslims first. And until our deputy Prime Minister says otherwise, I will continue to worry.

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"

Fascinating and very encouraging. But it would seem that this is going to put quite an interesting "burden" on Canada as a whole. Somehow we will need to treat our new GG as two totally different people. At times Michaelle will have to be our Head of State, with all the pomp and circumstance that goes with that office. At other times, she will need to be just another mother, taking part in the activities of her daughter. I sure hope we as a nation, and particularly the media, can make this distinction. I think this is something I need to write to my MP about.

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"

So - we will be far safer if Muslim women do not wear their hajibs - then we will not be aware that there is such a thing as a Muslim in Canada who might be a sleeper!

You are in your 80s Jim, I fail to see what worries you so much, you've had a good run for your money! You would do better to relax and enjoy life.

She will, presumably, do what other working mothers do, get on with it. She should not need any special treatment, nor seek it. After all the pay is certainly a great deal better than most working mothers receive.

Are you thinking that many people think it's ok for working fathers to completely ignore their families because that might interfere with their jobs? It sounds like you believe, or think others believe, that all politicians should be single, white males, with no obligations other than to their job. Why would being a mother make a woman less able to do her job properly than being a father would make a difference for a man?

I hope you're wrong and a majority of the population and the media don't think that way. And, of course, there are several examples of women in high office who have done very well and have raised families at the same time.

Feeling a bit chauvinistic are you?

Lucille

You are completely misinterpreting what I am trying to say. I believe people in public life need to be able to have as much privacy as they feel they need where their children are concerned. There is bound to be a special bond between mother and daughter, and like all such pairings, they need to take part in "childhood" out of the glare of publicity. This has nothing to do with one's sex; father/son relationships are the same. As are parents of both sexes with children of both sexes. What I am trying to say, is that Michaelle Jean, as our GG must be in the public spotlight for a lot of her life. It goes with the job. However, she should be allowed to specify when she is *not* the GG, but merely the mother of her child. And the Canadian public, and particularly the media, should respect her wishes. Will this happen? I hope so, but if it does not, then it is up to our politicians to all they can to protect Michaelle from the public glare when she wants to be privately in public; if you can understand that oxymoron.

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"

I believe that any public figure that expects to have very much privacy is kidding themselves and living in a dream. If a person chooses to go into public life, they must accept that the media and the public have come to expect to be tin their face all the time.

I'm not saying I agree with that, or that I think it's right. I just believe it to be true. I would like to think things will change and celebrities will be left alone, but I fear it's going to get worse and not better and people who go into politics should know that.

Lucille

She's not my governor general here in the states, but I've been following this thread with interest. What struck me were two of Jim's phrases:

Just? Merely?

Felice :-)

Say what you like about the Clintons, but they did a good job of keeping Chelsea out of the spotlight until she was grown.

Similarly, the British royal family succeeded in keeping the media away from Harry and Wills until they were grown.

It can be done.

Ms. Jean is not the first Governor General to live at Rideau Hall with children. Did you write to your MP about making a similar distinction for Ed Schreyer?? Dawne

Oh but Sheena---the original post assumed this refugee was "shacked up" with her babydaddy, instead of being married and a mother. Dawne

First, that was a long time ago, and maybe I should have. But I do not know if the Schreyer children went to public school; do you?

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"

How else can I express this sort of thought? The lady has been appointed as our Governor General, one of the most illustrious appointments in Canada. It is going to be difficult for her to be just an ordinary mother, for example, dropping her child off at school before doing a days work. There is the inevitable security. I am trying to convey the idea that some of the time, she be allowed to behave the same way as any other of the parents who live in the same area, and do all the normal things that parents of young children do. Can you give me some other expressions I could use?

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"

Well I for one, think that our media have no right to pester our Governor General when she is behaving as a mother of a young child, and she does not want to be pestered. And I am certain that if we as Canadians dont want it to happen, we can accomplish this end. Luckily there are lots of examples in Canada of the media behaving very well in these sorts of circumstances.

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"