Globe: In lush BC, Jean shares painful secret
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In lush BC, Jean shares painful secret, Rod Mickleburgh, Friday March 10 2006, Globe and Mail
VANCOUVER -- Count Governor-General Michaëlle Jean as the latest convert to the seductive charms of the West Coast.
Wherever she has gone on her first official visit to the province, Ms. Jean has proclaimed that if she were to live anywhere else in Canada outside of Montreal, it would be Vancouver.
Her earlier stop in Victoria, complete with its host of daffodils, was also a big hit with the country's viceregal representative.
Maybe the pleasure and comfort she clearly drew from her lush surroundings explain why Ms. Jean chose to speak out with startling candour about her personal life.
Most poignantly, during a speech in Victoria on International Women's Day, the Governor-General shared the pain of seeing spousal violence in her own childhood.
Ms. Jean first recalled witnessing the helplessness of women while working with others to set up a network of shelters for battered women in Quebec.
Then, visibly moved by the memory, she said: "I also saw part of my own story. I was once a little girl who saw her father strike her mother. My younger sister and I lived with the anguish that all children feel when their family unit breaks down."
Ms. Jean, 48, was born in Haiti. After her father, Roger Jean, was savagely beaten by government thugs, the family emigrated to Quebec in 1968. Soon after the move, Mr. Jean abandoned the family, leaving Ms. Jean's mother Lucie to raise her two daughters alone.
"For years, we lived in a small basement apartment in Montreal that had just 1½ rooms," she recalled. "Despite the uncertainty that comes with working odd jobs, my mother held her head high, her pride and dignity never wavering."
Ms. Jean recently reconciled with her father, and these days, she said, he is a changed man.
"My father, who suffered the brutality of torture, is now free from the hell of violent behaviour," she told her Victoria audience. "This is the story of a family that happens to be my family."
In a brief encounter with reporters, she said she decided to speak publicly about spousal violence in her family in order to help other women. "The more you put a human face on those situations, especially from my position now as Governor-General, it helps others who are totally isolated . . . to do the same," Ms. Jean said.
"It's something I feel very free and open to share with other people."
Asked whether she would tell her young daughter about the history of abuse in her family, Ms. Jean replied that what took place was not "a shame. It happens to so many families.
"We have to realize that being silenced about it [spousal violence] is not a good thing to do. I think part of the solution is to speak out and make it known."
Awareness helped her father to change, she pointed out. "I think he is an example to many men by showing that it is possible to overcome this kind of behaviour. He has done that and I am very proud of him."
Later, addressing an official government luncheon presided over by Premier Gordon Campbell, the Governor-General returned to the theme of violence against women.
"The numbers of women and their children who continue to be affected by violence and misogyny are staggering," she said. "And we all bear the costs."
Outside Vancouver City Hall, where Ms. Jean unveiled a display case containing the original 1952 Winter Olympics flag from Oslo, spectator Anne Pearson said she was proud that the country's new Governor-General does not shy away from problems in her own private life.
"I just think she's such a huge asset to bring this out in public at a time when otherwise people might not be aware of it [violence against women]," said Ms. Pearson.
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan donated $5,000 on behalf of the city to the Women's Information Safe House in the Downtown Eastside as a gift to the Governor-General.
WISH is a safe drop-in centre for sex-trade workers who walk the streets of the city's toughest area.
And another, smaller piece around the same story: Globe: Saturday March 11 2006.
Ms. Jean's example
'It happens to so many families, we have to realize. And being silent about it is not a good thing to do. I think part of the solution is to speak out . . . about it, and make it known."
The speaker was Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, talking this week of domestic abuse and the need to let those who are suffering it know they are not alone. She went further. She told of her own experience as "a little girl who saw her father strike her mother. My younger sister and I lived with the anguish that all children feel when the family unit breaks down."
In her case, the husband left and the smaller family unit went through hardship. But Ms. Jean's very presence showed that triumph can come from adversity, and she had a further message: that her violent father had eventually renounced his violence. Those who have suffered in silence with abuse have been reminded that this is not some anomaly they must live with -- that the problem cuts through all layers of society, and that those who are abused should not hesitate to seek help. The Governor-General has been there, and has borne public witness.
VANCOUVER -- Count Governor-General Michaëlle Jean as the latest convert to the seductive charms of the West Coast.
Wherever she has gone on her first official visit to the province, Ms. Jean has proclaimed that if she were to live anywhere else in Canada outside of Montreal, it would be Vancouver.
Her earlier stop in Victoria, complete with its host of daffodils, was also a big hit with the country's viceregal representative.
Maybe the pleasure and comfort she clearly drew from her lush surroundings explain why Ms. Jean chose to speak out with startling candour about her personal life.
Most poignantly, during a speech in Victoria on International Women's Day, the Governor-General shared the pain of seeing spousal violence in her own childhood.
Ms. Jean first recalled witnessing the helplessness of women while working with others to set up a network of shelters for battered women in Quebec.
Then, visibly moved by the memory, she said: "I also saw part of my own story. I was once a little girl who saw her father strike her mother. My younger sister and I lived with the anguish that all children feel when their family unit breaks down."
Ms. Jean, 48, was born in Haiti. After her father, Roger Jean, was savagely beaten by government thugs, the family emigrated to Quebec in 1968. Soon after the move, Mr. Jean abandoned the family, leaving Ms. Jean's mother Lucie to raise her two daughters alone.
"For years, we lived in a small basement apartment in Montreal that had just 1½ rooms," she recalled. "Despite the uncertainty that comes with working odd jobs, my mother held her head high, her pride and dignity never wavering."
Ms. Jean recently reconciled with her father, and these days, she said, he is a changed man.
"My father, who suffered the brutality of torture, is now free from the hell of violent behaviour," she told her Victoria audience. "This is the story of a family that happens to be my family."
In a brief encounter with reporters, she said she decided to speak publicly about spousal violence in her family in order to help other women. "The more you put a human face on those situations, especially from my position now as Governor-General, it helps others who are totally isolated . . . to do the same," Ms. Jean said.
"It's something I feel very free and open to share with other people."
Asked whether she would tell her young daughter about the history of abuse in her family, Ms. Jean replied that what took place was not "a shame. It happens to so many families.
"We have to realize that being silenced about it [spousal violence] is not a good thing to do. I think part of the solution is to speak out and make it known."
Awareness helped her father to change, she pointed out. "I think he is an example to many men by showing that it is possible to overcome this kind of behaviour. He has done that and I am very proud of him."
Later, addressing an official government luncheon presided over by Premier Gordon Campbell, the Governor-General returned to the theme of violence against women.
"The numbers of women and their children who continue to be affected by violence and misogyny are staggering," she said. "And we all bear the costs."
Outside Vancouver City Hall, where Ms. Jean unveiled a display case containing the original 1952 Winter Olympics flag from Oslo, spectator Anne Pearson said she was proud that the country's new Governor-General does not shy away from problems in her own private life.
"I just think she's such a huge asset to bring this out in public at a time when otherwise people might not be aware of it [violence against women]," said Ms. Pearson.
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan donated $5,000 on behalf of the city to the Women's Information Safe House in the Downtown Eastside as a gift to the Governor-General.
WISH is a safe drop-in centre for sex-trade workers who walk the streets of the city's toughest area.
And another, smaller piece around the same story: Globe: Saturday March 11 2006.
Ms. Jean's example
'It happens to so many families, we have to realize. And being silent about it is not a good thing to do. I think part of the solution is to speak out . . . about it, and make it known."
The speaker was Governor-General Michaëlle Jean, talking this week of domestic abuse and the need to let those who are suffering it know they are not alone. She went further. She told of her own experience as "a little girl who saw her father strike her mother. My younger sister and I lived with the anguish that all children feel when the family unit breaks down."
In her case, the husband left and the smaller family unit went through hardship. But Ms. Jean's very presence showed that triumph can come from adversity, and she had a further message: that her violent father had eventually renounced his violence. Those who have suffered in silence with abuse have been reminded that this is not some anomaly they must live with -- that the problem cuts through all layers of society, and that those who are abused should not hesitate to seek help. The Governor-General has been there, and has borne public witness.
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