’With this luck came great responsibility’

With little more than two days remaining in her mandate, Michaelle Jean addressed a farewell reception on Parliament Hill a short time ago.

Breaking down solitudes, according to my motto, ending isolation and building on our desire to live together: these were and remain the objectives of the governor general who stands before you today, a woman born in a country where the social foundations had collapsed, where power was exercised brutally to the detriment of all, a woman who was extraordinarily lucky to be able to pursue her dreams in a country where anything is possible, our country.