May 27, 2018 - 10:29 AM
A quick sketch of former governor general Michaelle Jean, who is currently serving as secretary general of La Francophonie
Age: 60
Early years: Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in Thetford-Mines, Que., after her family came to Canada to escape Francois Duvalier's regime in 1968.
Career: Attended Universite de Montreal, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Italian and Spanish. Prior to being named governor general, she worked for a time as a Radio-Canada reporter and at a women's shelter. She also studied in Europe and speaks several languages. More recently, she has served as UNESCO special envoy to Haiti and as chancellor of the University of Ottawa.
She is married to filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond and made several films with him.
Governor General: Jean served as Canada's 27th governor general from Spet. 27, 2005, until Sept. 30, 2010.
Controversy: Her decision to help skin a seal during a 2009 trip to the Arctic was derided as "bizarre" by the Belgium-based European Union, and compared by environmentalists to Neanderthalism and wife-battery.
Jean said at the time she was simply sharing in a local custom when she helped butcher the animal and eat a piece of its raw heart.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2018