Jean’s siren song of freedom
Jaw-dropping boldness of speech seductive
Madam,
I surrender. Let us
forget past criticisms. Let us put aside old quarrels. Your speech has collapsed my defences. You are my Commander- in-Chief.
After the oath of allegiance, after the musical numbers, after the Prime Minister’s introduction, I settled in to hear the new Governor- General deliver her first address to the nation, expecting to hear the usual banal bureaucratese, or worse, the coded appeals to regional and racial chauvinism — sorry, diversity — that have become the official langage of Ottawa. Indeed, given her own past, I half expected some sly reference to the independence of small peoples or the like.
I had not expected to hear the full-throated song of love to this country that in fact followed, a speech of heart-breaking sincerity and jaw-dropping boldness —the most ringing endorsement of undifferentiated pan- Canadianism, I’m willing to guess, that the capital has heard in years. Nor could anyone have anticipated precisely how she would choose to convey her message, the points she emphasized, the words she preferred. The gesture of renouncing her French citizenship had been welcome enough. But the speech was note-perfect in tone, and transformative in content.
It was uplifting without being pollyanna-ish, tender yet toughminded, vigorous, audacious, even bellicose in spots.