Monday, May 15, 2006

Is the Governor General Haitian or Canadian?

Her Quick Trip Back to Haiti

Michaelle Jean, the Governor General who should really be occupying a behind-the-scenes role, is in the news yet again.

In a world full of symbolic reminders (her exact words are "we live in a world that needs symbols”), she is returning to the country she fled, to attend the inauguration of the new Haitian President.

She also says: “Sometimes symbols change things".

I wonder if that is her goal for Canada? By changing Canada’s symbols, is she trying to change Canada too?

Perhaps, people’s motives really are subconscious. Here is the Coat of Arms she presented for her governor generalship. Almost all the symbolisms are Haitian, from the false goddesses to the reference to the black slave. And our coast to coast to coast has now also included the Caribbean – in Jean's best of all possible worlds.