Posted on 09/27/2005 12:34:37 PM PDT by Heartofsong83
Quebeckers embrace new Governor-General
By BRIAN LAGHI
Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Posted at 4:57 AM EDT
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Michaëlle Jean will become Canada's Governor-General today with an overwhelming amount of goodwill from young people and Quebeckers, and a historic opportunity to strengthen the vice-regal role in Quebec, a new poll shows.
The poll, conducted for The Globe and Mail-CTV News, found 46 per cent of all Canadians — and 71 per cent of Quebeckers — think Ms. Jean is a good choice to replace Adrienne Clarkson as Governor-General. The survey also finds that Ms. Jean is extremely popular with Canada's youth, particularly those who know her personal history as a refugee from Haiti and her struggle to become a successful journalist.
The findings are somewhat surprising, pollsters say, particularly given Quebec's traditional opposition to the monarchy and its stodgy reputation among young Canadians.
“This particular appointment seems to blunt and mute the opposition where it's most pronounced, which is in the province of Quebec,” said Allan Gregg, chairman of The Strategic Counsel, which conducted the survey.
Mr. Gregg said the numbers suggest that Ms. Jean has a great opportunity to strengthen the role of the Governor-General in Quebec after she is sworn in at a ceremony on Parliament Hill today.
“We find, that if anything, that she's most embraced there already and when you tell people a little more about her, the support for her as a good choice goes up,” he said. “In public opinion terms, that's virtual unanimity.”
The poll of 1,000 people was conducted Sept 21-25 and is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, 95 per cent of the time.
Mr. Gregg said Ms. Jean's popularity with young Canadians may stem from her own relative youth — she is 48 — and the fact that she has a six-year-old daughter. Young people and Quebeckers are also traditionally more welcoming of immigrant groups and small-l liberal values, he said.
“The poll suggests that the more people learn about her, the more they're gong to like her and embrace her, especially young people,” he said.
When told of Ms. Jean's background, how she fled her native Haiti in 1968 as a young girl with her family, and her struggle to become a successful journalist, 85 per cent of Quebeckers say she is a good choice, while 72 per cent of people between 18 and 30 say the same thing.
Ms. Jean's appointment could also bolster Liberal fortunes in enclaves of Montreal, where the Haitian immigrant population forms a significant voter base.
Those who are less keen on her selection include Western Canadians, men and people over 45, the poll found.
Pollsters said the sentiment likely reflects that Ms. Jean is a non-traditional appointment.
The poll also shows that Ms. Jean will face an uphill battle in reducing Quebec's general antipathy for the monarchy.
The poll found that 47 per cent of Canadians surveyed oppose keeping the Queen as Canada's head of state, while an equal number support the idea. The other six per cent did not know or refused to say. Only 23 per cent of Quebeckers support retaining the Queen as Canada's head of state, while 71 per cent were opposed.
Mr. Gregg said the split demonstrates that Canadians are wondering whether the Queen continues to be germane to Canadian life.
“I think the relevance of the institution is at question, particularly in the province of Quebec, but even in English Canada,” he said.
The poll also found that Ms. Jean appears to have maintained her popularity despite the emergence of reports this summer that left the impression that she may have favoured Quebec sovereignty.
Although 67 per cent felt past views should be a consideration in the selection of a potential governor-general, 70 per cent said they believe Ms. Jean is committed to Canada, while 76 per cent of Quebeckers held the same view. On the question of whether their impressions had changed, 21 per cent of Canadians said they had worsened, while only 10 per cent of Quebeckers said their views of Ms. Jean had been downgraded.
Asked whether the Governor-General's $19-million budget was a good use of taxpayers' money, 28 per cent said yes and 67 per cent said no.
Yet the Liberal-friendly Grope and Wail ignores that fact in the headlines, tries as badly as possible to cover that up. Typical MSM garbage.
}:-)4
It used to be a regal representative to the Queen or King of England, and it remains the official Commander-in-Chief.
In reality, it is now just a patronage post.
There. That seems to make a little more sense.
Correct. In no other province is support even 50%.
Gotcha, thanks. I had thought it was a largely ceremonial executive post (kind of like the "president" in European parliamentary systems?) but wasn't sure.
}:-)4
Hmmm, here I am under 45 and living on the east coast ... and I DON'T support the selection. I guess I need to get my act together. LOL
What's happening, very simply, is the Quebecis are making the rest of Canada wish they'd given them their independence.
It's the same sort of thought a lot of Americans have when Blue States force changes like abortion, gay rights, higher taxes, and deficit spending.
Quebec makes the "Blue States" look ultra-conservative...
LOL no. If you are not in Quebec, you're in the majority.
yet Ottawa always kow-tows to Quebec.
I am married to a Bluenoser so I am sympathetic to non-Toad* Canada
*not real French so they only get Toad status.
Someone stated that in the 'new' Canada, Anglo Saxons aren't particularly welcome. This is so true. I am an alien in my own country, hated because I'm white, hated even more because of my English heritage, add to that the fact that I am Christian, and heterosexual......well, you get the picture. I won't even go into the fact that I am a right wing Conservative.....
I am seriously starting to five serious thought into
a) becoming an Albertan
or
b) Trying to become an American citizen
Either way, I know I would have much to bring to my new home.
Becoming an American would give me perhaps the first sense of belonging and acceptance that I have ever had. I'm simply not welcome in Canada anymore.
five = give
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Would this be Paul Martin's good friend Allan Gregg?
Presumably her francophone background would be part of her attraction for the Quebecois. Did she ever take out British citizenship, or is that no longer a requirement to be a governor general? (There was a Scot who was governor general in New Zealand about 30 years ago, but he would have been covered by the Act of Union.)
b) Trying to become an American citizen
Either way, I know I would have much to bring to my new home.
Becoming an American would give me perhaps the first sense of belonging and acceptance that I have ever had. I'm simply not welcome in Canada anymore. /quote
Ashamed Canadian, don't waste your time. Not that I wouldn't love to have you here. I bet you would be an awesome American, but unfortunately, we are only three (appox.) steps behind Canada when it comes to being fractured by multi-ethnic identity politics (I mean diversity) and complete socialization/communization of American infrastructure. We are heading over the same waterfall Canadians face, were just moving towards it a little slower is all. It would be a waste of your time and energy to move here, and then 5-10 years down the road find yourself in the same situation you are in now. It would probably serve your interests better to look to Australia, or perhaps New Zealand (not sure about NZ politics), because the PM or MP (not sure what his exact title is) of Australia has shown himself to be a stand up guy with a solid grasp of world politics. If I were younger and in better health, I would look into emigrating to Oz myself. If you do decide to come to the U.S., try to locate in a historically solid, red state otherwise you probably will have to deal with the same kind of nucking futs you will be leaving behind.
She has puppets of white, english speaking canadian males
that she sticks with voodoo pins basically 24 X 7.
You know..your typical white english saxon or irish/scottish mainstay clone. I heard she has a palace
full of these little dolls.
When she isn't doing that she is signing papers to give
more plush secure jobs to immigrants in the gov't so they can collect nice pensions and pump out more immigrant
kids to aspire to the liberal notion of total
domination by the minority peoples of canada within
two generations. Oh yea she is also putting more
french information on all canadian cereal boxes coast
to coast.
This pretty well sums up the job of "the new" governor
general.
You know who I really feel for..the native american indians.
Here we have the white anglo man in canada who took over from the indians. Then we have the french in canada who
took over from the white english speaker. Finally we
have the immigrants taking over from the white english
speaker. Notice the french don't get taken over by anybody
in present day canada.
Poor indians..........imagine how they must feel.
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