Governor General visits historic neighbourhood

It was a perfect day to plant a tree and have a park named in her honour....she thoroughly enjoyed herself and it was fun to chat with her in Spanish...some images of a nice day in our city.

When is the Queen's term up? I was hoping she would be the last but apparently there's a King waiting in the wings.

I guess her reign is up either when she decides to quit or passes on.

A note to whomever thinks they are giving me kudos - blue lines - when they are not as my kudos numbers have not advanced from 504 all day....grow up. It was a nice event that fostered pride in an area that has seen some tough times in the past. There is forward momentum here and the fact that the governor general took the time to reach out to a group of children way back when, now teens, and come back to give them further encouragement is wonderful. Perhaps many more children who were in attendance today will pursue activities that are positive....I saw so many smiling faces today. I saw hope.

Actuall that term get's renewed, or not, at the pleasure of the PM - not? He didn't renew her and I forget the guys name - but he's taking over sometime later this year I think. I think it was Jean's trip overseas - when she introduced herself as the head of Canada - that got the irk of the PM and many others.

You asked about the Queen's term, not her representative. Perhaps the word Queen should have had quotation marks around it to denote sarcasm? I do not think Jean would have said she was "head" of Canada....the woman is too finessed and couched in protocol to be that arrogant or presumptive.

What I saw today was pure class....I have photographed many events involving dignitaries and the famous for whatever....she was accessible to all, her handlers knew when stay back....what a smooth operation today. It was a pleasure meeting her and of course capturing her winning smile, a genuine smile. Maybe some more folks could be doing just that - smiling, instead of being so damned petty and vindictive.

I believe that is in fact what she said. Created quite the stir at the time IIRC. May not have been intentional but it is what it is...

FWIW I believe the Monarchy and it's attendant ceremonies has outlived its usefulness in Canada. Now it's mostly too expensive and of no value. Canada is all growed up...

Yes, that may be the case GOM but the children enjoyed her visit, the attention and dialogue....that was why she was here today - not necessarily as a representative of a tired "firm" but as someone reconnecting with a group of youngsters who had at first reached out to her.

BTW GOM what does IIRC and FWIW signify in terms of your last post?

If I recall correctly and for what it's worth...

gracias!

And I think gracias is:
get
real
a-hole
can't
I
assume
something else

Kidding of course. Yes Gumpy is correct - she said exactly that.

No, GOM is not necessarily correct.....as he often requests of others I wish to see cited sources with regards to her possible misrepresentation. I made a few phone calls earlier tonight to folks who have no political partisanship but who understand thoroughly, protocol as well as the GG's professional background....it is not like she is another Jethro/Ellie May of a certain ideology....the drift I get is that a remark she made was taken way out of context (historically speaking yes she is the "head of state" but not in the way some have inferred her remarks to signify).

Here is an example of how things can get distorted - what if the GG had been somewhere for one of those ubiquitous rubber chicken dinners or maybe some spaghetti and meatballs and what if someone nearby heard her remark "oh my I really do not like these spaghetti and meatballs..." - it would be so easy for someone sitting nearby or someone serving to take that remark to mean "oh she dislikes Italian food" or "she dislikes Italians".

Vocal inflections, dialects, the fact that English is not her lingua franca???? It would be so easy for someone to misjudge a simple statement and even easier for others to run rampant with further judgments based on conjecture.

Until someone here actually posts a credible reference source I will for now take certain assumptions regarding possible GG gaffes as such.

In other words boys and girls, gossip can be tarted up and passed off as "news"- hmmmmm?

BTW now that I am up and writing it is so nice to see actual kudo numbers going up....thank you. One has to appreciate time stamps.

Actuall that term get's renewed, or not, at the pleasure of the PM - not? He didn't renew her and I forget the guys name - but he's taking over sometime later this year I think.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/833521--academic-david-johnston-set-to-be-next-governor-general

Johnston, 69, was born in Sudbury and is currently president of the University of Waterloo. He also served for 15 years as the principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University. The fluently bilingual anglophone is a legal expert, and has studied at Harvard, Cambridge and Queen’s University in Kingston.

Johnston, who became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988, and was made a Companion in 1997, will be officially appointed as governor general in September when Michaëlle Jean’s term ends. Jean will then take on her new role as the United Nations’ special envoy to Haiti.

Johnson was chosen by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to write the terms of reference for Justice Jeffrey Oliphant’s probe of former prime minister Brian Mulroney’s relationship with businessman Karlheinz Schreiber. Many critics felt those guidelines were too restrictive, as they excluded dealings relating to the controversial 1988 Airbus purchase.

Johnston has also hosted televised federal leadership debates, including the famous stand-off between Mulroney and then-prime minister John Turner in 1984.

I don't think he'll be as pompous as the previous GGs.

Miz point wrote:No, GOM is not necessarily correct.....as he often requests of others I wish to see cited sources with regards to her possible misrepresentation. I made a few phone calls earlier tonight to folks who have no political partisanship but who understand thoroughly, protocol as well as the GG's professional background....it is not like she is another Jethro/Ellie May of a certain ideology....the drift I get is that a remark she made was taken way out of context (historically speaking yes she is the "head of state" but not in the way some have inferred her remarks to signify).

Here is an example of how things can get distorted - what if the GG had been somewhere for one of those ubiquitous rubber chicken dinners or maybe some spaghetti and meatballs and what if someone nearby heard her remark "oh my I really do not like these spaghetti and meatballs..." - it would be so easy for someone sitting nearby or someone serving to take that remark to mean "oh she dislikes Italian food" or "she dislikes Italians".

Vocal inflections, dialects, the fact that English is not her lingua franca???? It would be so easy for someone to misjudge a simple statement and even easier for others to run rampant with further judgments based on conjecture.

Until someone here actually posts a credible reference source I will for now take certain assumptions regarding possible GG gaffes as such.

In other words boys and girls, gossip can be tarted up and passed off as "news"- hmmmmm?

I also remember the comments GOM is referring to. The "entire country(read folks who give a damn)" got royally pissed off about her comment.

She referred to herself as the Head of State.
http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Harper+reminds+just+head+state/2082430/story.html

"I, a francophone from the Americas, born in Haiti, who carries in her the history of the slave trade and the emancipation of blacks, at once Quebecoise and Canadian, and today before you, Canada's head of state, proudly represents the promises and possibilities of that ideal of society," she said.

Later in the speech, while discussing the importance of education, Jean described meeting "remarkable young people" in the many places "that I have travelled as head of state."

MrMyles wrote:She referred to herself as the Head of State.
http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Harper+reminds+just+head+state/2082430/story.html

"I, a francophone from the Americas, born in Haiti, who carries in her the history of the slave trade and the emancipation of blacks, at once Quebecoise and Canadian, and today before you, Canada's head of state, proudly represents the promises and possibilities of that ideal of society," she said.

Later in the speech, while discussing the importance of education, Jean described meeting "remarkable young people" in the many places "that I have travelled as head of state."

The Queen is the head of state, the GG is the Queens representative. Many people were quite upset at the GG for calling herself the head of state when clearly she is not.

BTW miz P.

Nice pics... Although I was a tad concerned as each picture zoomed in more and more... I was kind of hesitant to scroll past pic 3

Head of state - as in Harper's boss. He didn't care for the reference.