Incoming GG vows to defend Canadian heritage

OTTAWA – Calling him a man who "represents the best of Canada," Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced legal scholar David Johnston will be Canada’s next Governor General.

Johnston, 69, the bilingual president of the University of Waterloo is expected to assume the role October 1.

"My wife and I have always believed that service, whether it is to family, community, university or country is our highest calling," said Johnston in a speech Thursday. "We are proud to have this opportunity to serve Canada and our fellow citizens.

"As the representative of the Queen of Canada, who is our country’s head of state, I pledge to be a stalwart defender of our Canadian heritage, of Canadian institutions, and of the Canadian people."

Harper and Johnston met earlier Thursday morning ahead of the official announcement.

"Mr. Johnston has a strong record of public service, a broad base of support and an impressive list of achievements," Harper said in a statement Thursday morning.

"He has extensive legal expertise, a comprehensive understanding of government and a deep appreciation of the duties and tasks now before him."

Harper chose Johnston upon the advice of a special committee created to look at all the possible candidates.

The committee met for several weeks and consulted hundreds of people in the process.

A spokesman for Harper said Thursday that the process was deliberately constructed so that Harper would get non-partisan advice and that the next governor general would represent all Canadians, not just the current Conservative government.

"David Johnston represents the best of Canada," Harper said.

"He represents hard work, dedication, public service and humility. I am confident he will continue to embody these traits in his new role as the Crown’s representative in Canada."

Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff congratulated Johnson and praised his dedication to learning an innovation.

"As a renowned academic and university leader, Dr. Johnston has inspired many Canadians in the classroom and has brought international recognition to Canada’s capacity for science, research and development," Ignatieff said in a statement.

Canadian universities lauded the choice of one of their own.

"The Prime Minister has chosen a person of outstanding accomplishment, deep integrity, with a profound faith in Canada’s future," said Paul Davidson, president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. "David Johnston has been tireless in promoting the values and institutions that build a strong society, and is a passionate champion for Canada."

McGill University also congratulated its former principal.

"David Johnston has made an enormous contribution to higher education in Canada," said Heather Munroe-Blum, McGill’s current president and

vice-chancellor.

"We at McGill are absolutely delighted to see this inspired choice to be the Queen’s representative in Canada. His appointment is both a recognition of his prodigious talents and sterling reputation, and an important symbol of the vital role of higher education, research and innovation to this country’s prosperity and progress in the global community," Munroe-Blum said.

The Queen was informed of the choice recently and she had a brief exchange with Johnston on Monday when the two met informally at an event in Toronto during the Royal visit.

Johnston is expected to travel to London later this summer or in September to meet the Queen and to discuss his term as governor general.

Johnston is known for his non-partisan status and extensive legal background.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard, a law degree from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., and another from Cambridge in England.

Also a companion of the Order of Canada, Johnston was the head of Montreal’s McGill University and a dean at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. He has also taught at the University of Toronto and Queen’s University.

Johnston’s legal training could come to the fore of Canadian politics if he, like current Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, has to leave the usual ceremonial aspects of the job and wade into constitutional matters in an era when minority governments are increasingly common.

His presidency of the University of Waterloo has coincided with its emergence as one of the world’s premier centres of excellence in high technology.

Born in Sudbury, Ont., he was twice selected to the all-American hockey team while at Harvard. He is also a marathon runner.

Canadians might also remember Johnston for his role as moderator during the storied "You had a choice" exchange in the televised leadership debate between Brian Mulroney and John Turner in 1984.

Johnston has also appeared on television as moderator of a PBS show called The Editors, which explored Canada-U.S. relations.

More recently, Harper turned to Johnston to write the terms of reference for the inquiry headed by retired justice Jeffrey Oliphant into the business relationship between Mulroney and German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.

The academic lives with his wife, Dr. Sharon Johnston, on a farm in the small town of Heidelberg, Ont. They have five adult daughters and seven grandchildren.

According to a statement on the Governor General’s website, "the Governor General represents Canada during state visits abroad and receives Royal visitors, heads of state and foreign ambassadors at Rideau Hall and at the Citadelle of Quebec."

Johnston is set to take over for Jean, whose term officially ends on September 27. Jean will then begin a four-year post as special envoy to Haiti for the United Nations.

A relative unknown when she first stepped into the role on September 27, 2005, Jean became a favourite among the masses both within and outside Canada.

Jean was the third woman to hold the post and among the youngest to reside at Rideau Hall with her Quebec filmmaker husband Jean-Daniel Lafond and school-aged daughter Marie-Eden.

Fluent in five languages, the award-winning Radio-Canada and CBC television journalist fled her native Haiti during the authoritarian regime of Francois Duvalier at age 11.

She settled in Quebec and studied languages and literature at the Universite de Montreal before continuing her schooling in Italy.

During her mandate, she launched a new Governor General’s Award in recognition of culinary and gastronomic excellence and won over many hearts during an emotional visit to her native Port-au-Prince after Haiti was ravaged in an earthquake.

Jean’s reign was not without controversy.

While her appointment by former prime minister Paul Martin was viewed by some as a shout out to young Quebecers, it initially drew criticism from both sovereigntists and federalists.

The dual French-Canadian citizen bowed to pressure and renounced her French citizenship before taking office, but it took a little longer for her to deal with allegations of separatist ties.

Her husband counts hard line separatists among his friends and once produced a documentary with members of the FLQ terrorist organization, but refuted some of the more incendiary allegations put forward by sovereigntists who balked at the couple’s new role.

Jean eventually released a statement declaring her loyalty to Canada and denying she had ever been a separatist.

She invited criticism once again when prominent abortion rights activist Dr. Henry Morgentaler was appointed to the Order of Canada and was later scolded for promoting herself as Canada’s head of state.

Canadian monarchist and constitutional experts quickly pointed out that she was in fact the Queen’s representative in Canada – but it wasn’t until Harper stepped in that she began to use the correct phrasing.

She drew both praise and derision when she ate a piece of raw seal heart during a trip to Nunavut last year and touched off much controversy when she decided to follow constitutional precedent and prorogue Parliament at Harper’s request in December 2008.

The alternative would have been to allow a non-confidence vote to take place, which would have placed her in the difficult position of having to dissolve Parliament and call an election just weeks after the last one, or potentially, to accept a pitch by the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois to form a coalition government.