Canadian Monarchist News

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20090708032551/http://www.monarchist.ca/cmn/1999/leblanc.htm

Ed. Note: Fidelius is an Ottawa insider who closely follows the Vice-Regal Office

In assessing the LeBlanc years at Rideau Hall, there is a sense that one is also gaining a disturbing insight into the state of the Monarchy in Canada, at least according to the present Federal Government through the eyes of the present Prime Minister and the Liberal Party. For not since the Michener years has there been a Governor General with such a close relationship to the Prime Minister and governing party as Romeo LeBlanc.

As many will recall, there was unprecedented criticism of the LeBlanc appointment when it was announced in November 1994. Perhaps this was more a harbinger of the times rather than deserved criticism of his background, as Mr. LeBlanc's credentials were hardly more or less partisan than many of his predecessors: Mr. Hnatyshyn had been a prominent Conservative Minister under both Clark and Mulroney; Sauve had been a Minister under Trudeau; even Schreyer had served as Premier of a Province. Even in the 1950's and 60's, a gentler and more respectful age, Governors General had political credentials: Michener was a Tory politician at both the Ontario and Federal levels and a friend of Lester Pearson, while Massey, had once run for the Liberals in the MacKenzie King era and was President of the National Liberal Federation. While there is a tendency to overlook the Governors sent from the United Kingdom prior to 1952, virtually all of them had political credentials as well. So of the century's Governors General, only General Lord Byng, General Vanier and Jules Leger were in a sense, apolitical. Byng, had the misfortune to have to deal with an unfortunate constitutional situation during in what was otherwise a most successful time in office, while Jules Leger had the misfortune of a serious illness which substantially reduced his activities. Only General Vanier, then, stands out as an unqualified role model.

While the criticism of M. LeBlanc was nasty and resulted in the Leader of the Reform Party small-mindedly snubbing the Installation Ceremony itself, many Canadians were prepared to see what might transpire and let M. LeBlanc be judged more by his actions while in office, rather than his past, a political past which included the playing of a kazoo in the Senate filibuster staged by the Liberals over the GST debate of 1990. Many of those who gave him the benefit of the doubt over accusations of "cronyism" and his partisanship must feel disappointed in the result.

To be fair, there is much to be celebrated about the LeBlanc years. There was a certain irony about Mr. LeBlanc's taking the Oath of Allegiance to the Sovereign given Acadian history. Viewed through this paradigm, the appointment was a brilliant one: a respected member of a minority French community outside Quebec with a historic grievance much greater and older than that of Quebecois visibly symbolizing the evolution of the vice-regal institution. Surely the Governor Generalcy could hardly be dubbed "a colonial relic" given the occupant! And no less noteworthy, Mr LeBlanc was the first Maritimer to occupy Rideau Hall.

As Governor General, Mr. LeBlanc has proven an excellent role model for Acadians and Francophones outside Quebec, of whom there are one million throughout the country. In a sense, he has opened our eyes and ears to Acadian history and pride which were celebrated during his time in office through Retrouvaille '94, the World Acadian Congress in Louisiana and this September's Francophone Summit in Moncton, New Brunswick. In this way, Romeo LeBlanc as Governor General, became a powerful symbol of Canadian reconciliation and tolerance: bilingual and articulate in both languages, and full of stories and reminders of a people who had survived and, in recent years, flourished in Canada's only officially bilingual province.

Even more generally applauded were important changes made by His Excellency at Rideau Hall, many of them for the better. Since 1995, Mr LeBlanc has opened the grounds and residence even further than many imagined possible. Visitors to Ottawa now have more compelling reasons to visit Rideau Hall and learn about our monarchial heritage and all indications are that many do. The establishment of a Visitor Centre and Gift Shop, more visible signage, increased tours and access to areas never before seen except by Royalty and Heads of State, as well as activities held on the grounds such as concerts and skating, have all served to draw people to Canada's metaphorical national home, gone some distance to dispel myths about the Vice-regal office and opened eyes to the importance of this civilized aspect of our national political life. In a modern way, the changes have put Rideau Hall back closer to the centre of life in the capital as it was a century ago. At that time, it was the social centre of Ottawa, and to have been invited was to have made it in society at the time; under Mr. LeBlanc's regime, it has resumed its station as a place for ordinary people from all across Canada to visit when making a pilgrimage to the National Capital.

The Governor General also established a new national programme to honour Canadians who volunteer in their communities, the Caring Canadian Award, further reaching people whom official honours and programmes often overlook. Recently came the announcement of a new programme for a Governor General's History Medal for the year 2000, which seems aptly to raise the profile of an important area of our education system which many have felt has been ignored in recent years, to the cost of a sense of shared community and purpose. The establishment of a Governor General's Award for the Visual Arts was also timely, and rounded the scope of the prestigious "GG's." The development of an interesting and accessible website (with a catchy address: www.gg.ca) containing lots of information about the Governor General, as well as photos of Their Excellencies out and about meeting Canadians, combined with definitive material on Canadian Honours and Heraldry, seems to be very much in keeping with the times and certainly is far bigger and better than sites maintained by any of The Queen's representatives in other realms, and only slight less grand than the Royal website itself.

Any reading of Mr. LeBlanc's speeches indicate that they are delivered by an articulate and interesting man, with a philosophical and rhetorical bent, capable of drawing lessons from our history and possessed of a real sense of being Canadian at the fin de siecle and millennium. The Governor General has clearly used his position and the podium it provides to emphasize the qualities which unite, while pointing out that there are those with historic grievances for whom he feels Canadians share a collective responsibility to help right the historic wrongs done them. The language used was sometimes unusual for a viceroy, but surely given the historic allegiance of the Aboriginal people to the Crown, one is led to believe that in making these statements His Excellency was clearly very acutely in touch with his profound duty of representing The Queen of Canada.

In this way, the contribution of the Governor General's wife, Diana Fowler LeBlanc, has seemed complementary through the establishment of a scholarship for Aboriginal Canadians who wish to study social work. Her Excellency seems to have used her time and profile at Rideau Hall towards good ends, focussing on palliative care, breast cancer and aboriginal education.

It is unfortunate that one has to read the Governor General's speeches on the internet, rather than hear them as part of a series of robust travels across the country, but this fact points out one of the troubling aspects of Mr. LeBlanc's service in office the lack of travel outside New Brunswick and Quebec. For someone who hails from what is considered as on the fringes of our country, it is most surprising that the LeBlancs travelled so little. To those who had the good fortune to meet him, the Governor General himself proved a sympathetic figure, easy to talk to, quick to find the humour in every situation and respectful and open to others and their points of view. But a review of the travel patterns suggests that Their Excellences did not venture frequently west of Ottawa. At the same time as moving the New Year's Levee outside the capital city, an example which has been followed by several Lieutenant Governors, the Governor General made few visits outside a narrow corridor between New Brunswick and Ottawa. In this way, many Canadians hardly knew who he was or what he stood for; they had a rather limited opportunity to interact with the Office in a personal way. In a time where media coverage of public figures is critical to the knowledge that citizens gain of them and their roles in our society, this absence from the public scene has done damage to the institution, to the role and place of the Governor General in our national life as well as in events of importance in different regions of Canada.

It is understandable that His Excellency travelled extensively in Quebec, given the near disastrous referendum result of 1996; of course, the Governor General has an official residence in Quebec City. But to have scarcely journeyed to most western provinces more than once or twice in nearly five years seems regrettable. Which leaves his home province of New Brunswick, with less than three quarters of a million people. What were the reasons for the focus on New Brunswick?

The Governor General's son, Domenic LeBlanc, worked through most of His Excellency's first years in office (1995-1997) as the Prime Minister's political assistant for Atlantic Canada. In 1997, he ran for the House of Commons in Mr. LeBlanc's old riding in New Brunswick. Oddly, on the weekend on which the writs were issued, the Governor General had events planned all throughout the riding. Since LeBlanc Jr's defeat, there have been occasions when conflict with the elected NDP MP have come to media attention outside New Brunswick. It cannot be helpful that an appearance of political involvement by the Governor General in the riding itself created a perception of partisanship.

Surprisingly, the role of Domenic LeBlanc is no exception when it comes to unusual political involvement at Rideau Hall in the past few years. The Governor General's daughter has worked for Liberal Cabinet Ministers as a political assistant for four years, and some staff close to him have equally close Liberal party connections, including an assistant who succeeded Dominic LeBlanc on the Atlantic Desk at the Prime Minister's Office, then ran in the recent New Brunswick provincial election as a Liberal candidate before returning, defeated, to Ottawa.

The Governor General's own acquiescence when it comes to making himself absent when it comes to the Prime Minister's own public profile is also unprecedented. In the last four years, no Governor General has welcomed Heads of State, on behalf of The Queen, to the many international events which have been held in Canada: the Halifax G-8 Summit was hosted entirely by the Prime Minister even though there were at least three Heads of State present; neither did the controversial APEC Summit in Vancouver include the Governor General. It would be difficult to imagine similar events taking place in the UK without at least a courtesy call to The Queen, to say nothing of other countries with ceremonial Presidents, who usually have a role to play in welcoming visitors from abroad. Indeed, Governors General such as Mr Schreyer and Madame Sauve were included by their Governments in major world events taking place in Canada. Madame Sauve made clear that La Citadelle in Quebec City was off-limits to Prime Ministers, as were Visits by Heads of State without the representative of the Canadian Sovereign!

While the Governor General has made some interesting innovations in The Queen's Canadian Honours with the addition of new awards and an extensive new public awareness campaign, there have also been an increasing politicization of our national honours. Canada has set the example for a non-partisan approach, based on public nomination, an example followed by other members of the Commonwealth and the United Kingdom itself. Recently however, one has noticed the increased awards given to former Cabinet Ministers and former Prime Ministers, almost as a matter of course. One would be hard pressed to find a reference to "politics" as a short description of a field of endeavour in a Canadian Honours list prior to 1995 when M. LeBLanc took office; this word has become all too common of late.

In Ottawa itself, largely screened from public view, the position and dignity of the Governor General's office has also been considerably downgraded by what would have been thought a friendly government, given Mr. LeBlanc's extensive political links. Their Excellencies no longer host State Dinners at Rideau Hall, but have been demoted to a holding merely a State Luncheon while the Prime Minister hosts an evening function frequently though inaccurately referred to by the media and guests themselves as a State Dinner with no Governor General present. Despite many requests to Rideau Hall or the Prime Minister's Office, no one will reveal whether or how often the Prime Minister still calls periodically to brief the Governor General and seek his advice, a principal part of his role "to encourage, to warn and to advise." Some might perhaps argue that these formalities were not required when the personal links between Governor and Premier are so close but will they be reinstated for Mr LeBlanc's successor?

The Governor General has also had the ignominy of being in office during a curious time in our national political life. Cabinet Ministers have openly questioned the continuance of the institution, sometimes in front of the media at Rideau Hall itself. After all, it was a newly sworn-in Minister of Citizenship & Immigration who openly questioned the Queen's place in the Oath of Citizenship as Mme Robillard stood under the watchful eye of the portraits of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in the Ballroom at The Queen's Canadian Residence. In addition, several Ministers took advantage of the opportunity created in the dark days for the monarchy following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales to question the future of the institution. In the face of all this speculation, no defence of the Crown has been mounted by The Queen's Representative. The Speeches from the Throne delivered by M. LeBlanc have been devoid of any material which suggested that he was doing more than speaking "on behalf of the Government." They have contained little if any of the polite dialogue about "My Government" or announcements about Royal Visits, unlike their predecessors.

The recent media coverage of the modification of the viceregal symbol, the Crowned lion holding a maple leaf, while a bit of a tempest in a teacup, also raises many questions. While one cannot argue that heraldry evolves and reflects personal taste, it is worrisome that the Governor General, as Head of the Canadian Heraldic Authority, would make small-minded comments about our symbols without fairly representing the other side of the equation. And one wonders if the lion on the Canadian Coat of Arms (which is after all, The Queen's Arms for Canada) is not suitable for the Governor General, then what of the Arms of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Newfoundland all of which feature beasts with a tongue extended? The surreptitious modification of the viceregal symbol, which was established by King George V, carries with it implications in our national heraldic life. It has only come to public attention two years after the deed, and judging from opinion expressed in newspapers, it has not been popular. It is most unfortunate for his legacy that this will be among the last of M. LeBlanc's actions in Office, and not one accompanied by a good explanation, or any sensitivity that some Canadians do take notice of these matters and may indeed have cared about the previous symbol before it was dispatched to the dustbin of heraldic and symbolic history. For an individual who is as proud of Canadian history and heritage as M. LeBlanc, the meagre interest he showed in our monarchial heritage, something valued by many, is strangely contradictory. This is the more so when the Coat of Arms which the Heraldic Authority created for him seems so apt and he seems to be quite proud of it.

These troubling questions, while small in each individual case, have weakened the institution in their aggregate. And as suggested earlier, while we have had Governors General with a political past, few, if any, have acted in such a political way.

What, then, of Mr LeBlanc's Oath of Allegiance and duty to emphasize loyalty to the Crown he represents?

The past four years have seen a paucity of Royal Visits to Canada, increasing the suspicion of a fairly clear but unacknowledged government policy of removing the presence of the Monarchy (like the viceregal lion) from our national life. Even the successful 1997 visit by The Queen & Duke of Edinburgh witnessed the most remarkable speeches given by the Prime Minister notable for their lack of loyalty or warmth toward The Queen. And of course, the series of events first reported in Canadian Monarchist News about the prospect of a Canadian serving at the Palace provides cold comfort to many who value our relationship with the Crown and Sovereign, to say nothing of a break of the proud tradition of Canadians serving in The Queen's Household.

A pattern starts to emerge from these situations, particularly given the apparent closeness in the relationship between the outgoing Governor General and the current Prime Minister and a First Minister who shows no sign of leaving office in the near future.

The Chretien Government's apparent intent to, little by little, replace the Monarchy from our public life in this country seems, unfortunately, to have had a willing accomplice at times in the present Governor General. A Presidential system is being put in place, but one oddly enough where the politicians themselves stand to gain the most from the current situation a small-minded Prime Minister who will not be upstaged as a mere Head of Government from an absent or downgraded Governor Generalcy. His staff, and the increasingly political staff of Rideau Hall, seem to be doing the work of a Paul Keating in a Canadian context without the courtesy of formally advising or consulting the people via a referendum.

What then is the bottom line on the LeBlanc Governor Generalcy? Sadly, unlike many Governors with a "past" he never seemed to rise above it. When one looks back at his Installation Address and optics of his appointment as an Acadian, one sees the best of the LeBlanc years. When one looks at his political background and his inability to distance himself from his partisan family and friends, to become a Governor General for all Canadians from sea to sea to sea, one finds little to celebrate.

Loyal Canadians would not quibble with incumbents of vice-regal offices who want to make changes, to update their practises to bring them in line with contemporary reality and to innovate as M. LeBlanc has done with new awards and an open and accessible Government House. After all, there is no institution which is changing to adapt itself to the new millennium more than the Monarchy. The Queen's representatives in Canada, as elsewhere, demonstrate their true loyalty when they modify, improve, modernize, just as Her Majesty and the Royal Family are doing, and in these ways we cannot disagree, but only applaud the positive contributions and innovations of the LeBlanc mandate.

But making the institution more political, absenting it from its legitimate place in our national life and not being visible, the Governor General has set a dangerous precedent, and one which is not in keeping with the wishes of Canadians. Public opinion polling and editorial writers seem united in one element about the post, even if they aren't staunch monarchists no politics at Rideau Hall just as it would seem Australians do not want a President chosen only by politicans.

Many provinces have shown great enthusiasm and affection for vice-regal appointments which have been non-political, and for viceroys who have acted in an apolitical way. Interestingly, the present Prime Minister seems to have found success in making appointments of this kind in his record of nominations for Lieutenant Governors. One can only hope that Mr. Chretien will have learned from his experiences with the appointment of Canada's 25th Governor General and that Adrienne Clarkson, his nominee for the 26th, will at least keep a distance from political life, a distance which is expected by Canadians and which should constitute the legacy of the 25 who have served in our nation's highest appointed office. Our history has shown that it is the only way to be a Governor General both loyal to the Sovereign and of service to all Canadians.

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