New GGan inspired appointment
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/07/2010 (5587 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
After a few months of pundits playing a bizarre game of Name the New GG, University of Waterloo president David Johnston was selected by an advisory group of constitutional experts assembled by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The 69-year-old bilingual academic starts his new job this fall, after Michaëlle Jean’s term officially ends, Harper said yesterday in a statement.
”David Johnston represents the best of Canada,” Harper said. ”He represents hard work, dedication, public service and humility.”
The selection of a constitutional expert — in a time of successive minority governments — clearly isn’t a coincidence.
Even Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff — who a few months ago has taken the odd step of urging the prime minister to extend Jean’s term — offered congratulations to the man who is to become the country’s 28th governor general.
”David Johnston’s dedication to learning and innovation … combined with his legal expertise and constitutional knowledge make him an ideal choice for governor general,” Ignatieff said.
The name game began in Ottawa last spring about who could be Canada’s next governor-general.
While it came as no surprise that the Conservative Harper would not extend Michaëlle Jean’s five-year term — she was appointed by the Liberals in September 2005 — some of the names that started being bandied about did start to raise a few eyebrows.
The Toronto Star reported that wheelchair athlete Rick Hanson had been approached about taking the job.
Some of the other possible candidates were said to include John de Chastelain, a former chief of defence staff and Canadian ambassador to the United States, and Inuit leader Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.
And on the Internet, cyber campaigns promoted retired general Romeo Dallaire, Reform Party founder Preston Manning, hockey great Wayne Gretzky and actor William (Capt. Kirk) Shatner.
We’re pleased with what appears to be a thoughtful and sensible choice in Johnston and and wish him well as he heads out into what could be some stormy political waters this fall.