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July 19, 2010

Canada Is a French Country

Andrew Coyne, Maclean's

AP Photo

COYNE: Stephen Harper has been playing up the province's role in Canadian history

Mathieu Belanger/Reuters

The most striking passage in David Johnston's speech on being named Canada's next governor general, apart from the reference to the Queen as "our head of state" (there seemed to be some doubt on his predecessor's part), was his lengthy encomium to Samuel de Champlain, "Canada's first governor." In case anyone did not catch his drift, he ended by invoking the example of his predecessors, "from Samuel de Champlain to Michaëlle Jean."

But wait a minute. Johnston is, as he says, the representative of the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II, great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom,...

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TAGGED: Quebec, Canada

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