Michaelle Jean becomes Algerian media darling despite side-stepping political questions
TIPAZA, Algeria (CP) ? Even the old men loitering in front of the small-town tobacco shops said they were aware of Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean?s visit.
She was kind of hard to miss ? even without the flashy motorcade that had the men staring from the sidewalks.
Jean was featured on Algerian TV for three straight days, and in the newspapers, and on the radio. When she offered standard diplomatic niceties like, ?Algeria can be a beacon,? they became front-page headlines.
The attention to Canada?s vice-regal continued Tuesday as she was still being peppered with questions at the end of a two-hour exchange with about three dozen local journalists.
An Algerian reporter seemed surprised when a Canadian colleague expressed some fascination with all the attention being lavished on a foreign, unelected ceremonial figure.
?We know she?s not a head of state with a lot of power,? said Rachid, a print journalist who did not want to be quoted by his full name.
?But she is a head of state from Canada. We?ve been waiting for such a visit for a long time.
?Go find me one person ? just one person ? who doesn?t like Canada.?
It was a common refrain from numerous Algerians who pointed out Canada?s unique position as a nation with wealth, with French as an official language, and without the colonial baggage of France and many other prosperous countries.
Jean raised her own background as the descendent of slaves during a diplomatic event this week, and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika lauded Canada as a land of opportunity for people of all cultures.
The Algerian press came armed with questions.
What was Jean?s position on the security fence being erected along the U.S. border with Mexico?
What did she think of the Canadian government?s strategy for countering terrorism?
What was her opinion on a proposed French law that would require school curricula to cast a more positive light on the country?s colonial past?
One female journalist prefaced her question by calling the Governor General a source of personal inspiration.
They were disappointed when Jean, perhaps aware of the potential for a diplomatic incident and for a guaranteed clash with Canada?s duly elected government, consistently declined to tackle political questions head-on.
?I?d rather hear what you think,? the Governor General interjected.
Jean reiterated several times that she was there for a round-table discussion about journalism ? her former profession ? and social issues.
The Algerian media had other ideas.
?There appears to be some confusion,? one female journalist said. ?You came to listen to us. We thought we were coming to a press conference.?
Jean began the wide-ranging discussion by lauding Algerian reporters for their courage in covering the country?s civil war during the 1990s, in which many faced daily intimidation. She visited a mural that paid tribute to a number of journalists killed during the conflict.
Jean described her own experience as a Haitian immigrant, and as a journalist who later witnessed the overthrow of the Duvalier regime that forced her family to flee the country.
She spoke of the bullet holes that pock-marked Haitian radio stations and of colleagues who lacked basic equipment but remained determined to record their country?s struggle for democracy.
Jean drew parallels with Algeria?s attempt to rebuild after a devastating civil war that killed more than 150,000 people and stalled the country?s economy.
She lauded the massive reconstruction efforts which will see Algeria spend almost $100 billion on infrastructure over the next five years.
Canadian companies have already drawn $2.5 billion in related contracts, and Jean made a pitch for her country?s business community.
In a speech to several hundred participants at a Canada-Algeria business forum, she pointed out what happened while other countries shut down embassies and encouraged their citizens to flee Algeria in the 1990s.
?We never left. Canada stayed with Algeria even in the worst moments,? she said.
Algeria plans to build a metro system, light-rail lines and highways ? much of it aimed at relieving the crippling traffic in its capital.
Jean toured a power plant being built by Montreal-based SNC Lavalin that will boost the country?s electricity capacity by 16 per cent.
She also noted that Canadian companies were responsible for two of Algeria?s most symbolic construction projects: the national monument to victims of the war of independence against France, and the Grand Mosque currently being constructed in Algiers.
When asked about terrorism, Jean referred to Algeria?s violent struggle in the 1990s between Islamic fundamentalists and the secular powers that rule the country.
She cited Algeria as proof that the struggle against terrorism was not a clash between civilizations, as some in the West would suggest.
Jean has vocally defended Canada?s mission in Afghanistan but made no reference to the conflict Tuesday.
The key to defeating terrorism, she suggested, lies in different cultures learning to accept each other.
?When we speak of a clash of civilizations we should remember that Algeria has also paid dearly,? Jean said.
?I come from a country, Canada, where we prefer speaking about a dialogue between civilizations....
?We don?t flee these realities. We recognize them, and we work at them every day because we consider this an essential mission.?
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M. Jean becomes Algerian media darling despite side-stepping political questions 
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