August 4, 2005 - Michaëlle Jean Becomes Governor General - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Michaëlle Jean becomes Canada’s first black governor general. Michaëlle Jean was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 1957. When Jean was 10 years old, her father was arrested and tortured for his opposition to dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier. In 1968, shortly after his release, the family moved to Thetford Mines, Quebec, where Michaëlle was amazed to find snow. She was a brilliant student with an ability for languages. Her education at the University of Montreal, University of Perouse, University of Florence and the Catholic University of Milan gave her an upper hand in literature and languages. She is fluent in French, English, Italian, Spanish and Creole. During her studies, between 1979 and 1987, Jean worked with Quebec shelters for battered women. Wanting to get into journalism, she arrived back in Haiti in February 1986 just as Duvalier’s son, Baby Doc, and his corrupt regime were coming to an end. Her work on that story led her to join Radio-Canada in 1988 with a career in reporting and hosting many programs. In 1999 she moved over to the English network of CBC Newsworld to host the Passionate Eye and Rough Cuts. She returned to the French station with a higher profile, her own show and a trail of awards for her work. On August 4, 2005, the country discovered that yet another well-known broadcaster would become the next governor general of Canada (replacing former broadcaster Adrienne Clarkson and Roméo LeBlanc). In taking on the job of the queen’s representative, Jean became the first black woman to hold the post. To help with the transition to the official residence at Rideau Hall on September 27, 2005, Jean and her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond agreed to their daughter’s one request: Marie-Eden would get a dog.

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