Canadian Governor General visits Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

"At last, I've made it to Africa. I have been waiting for this moment my entire life. For me, as a Black woman, this continent where I now find myself, speaking to you for the very first time, is where it all began.

My ancestors were torn from their lives, stripped of themselves, of their language, their name, their memory, their history, of their basic dignity as women and men, and were reduced to slavery and deported to the Americas. I was born in Haiti, where, after enduring three centuries of dehumanizing trade, the slaves were the first to break their chains.

This trip is especially meaningful and emotional for me. And I am delighted that my first State visits have brought me to this continent, to which I feel forever bound by history, by heart, and by blood.

And I couldn't be happier to begin this African jouney here, in the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. I have come to share with you, the people of Algeria, the friendship of all Canadians.

The ties that bind our two countries are many and are particularly visible in Quebec, where I put down roots in Canada. It is also the place where I had the opportunity to interview you, Excellency, when I was a journalist on public television.

I still have fond memories of your open and honest answers. At that time, you invited me to visit your country.

And so here I am in Algeria. In your magnificent capital city, Alger la blanche ["Algiers the White"], where can be found the seaside and the Kasbah, which I have been so anxious to discover. That dazzling light that [translation] "asks that one profess lucidity as one would profess faith," as Camus wrote.

In the people of Algiers, I immediately recognized a people rich in culture, proud of their achievements and resolutely committed to respecting the values of tolerance, peace, dialogue and civilization as bastions against barbarism.

I know. I know the devastation that the Algerian people have suffered since the "decade of blood," and I applaud their courage and determination to focus on the forces of life.

Excellency, your fellow citizens have overwhelmingly supported your plan for national reconciliation, marking a decisive step toward a better future and the prosperity of Algeria.

Canada will stand by the Algerian people as they build social peace and foster the conditions needed to ensure stability, without which a country cannot thrive in the concert of nations.

The scars run deep. Villages, neighbourhoods, schools, lives will have to be rebuilt. Large-scale infrastructure projects are underway, some involving the partnership of Canadian engineering firms.

Whether constructing thermal combined-cycle power plants, implementing a water system from the Taksebt dam, or supervising the construction of the Algiers Grand Mosque, Canada is proud to play a part in the rebirth of Algeria.

Cooperation between our two countries is stronger than ever. For many years now, Algeria has been Canada's leading trade partner in Africa and the Middle East. In 2005, total imports and exports reached nearly $4.5 billion.

But beyond these figures, I believe that what is most important, what is fundamental even, is the example that Algeria has set for all African countries seeking to move toward prosperity and maximize investment and development opportunities.

Algeria is a founding member of the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Canada is pleased that you, Excellency, have made this initiative a priority and a cornerstone of diplomacy in the region and throughout the world. It is a role that we greatly encourage you to pursue. It is a critical responsibility–the future of the people of Africa depends on it.

In recent years, there have been many high-level visits between our two countries, which last year marked the 40th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. You yourself, Excellency, made a State visit to Canada in 2000 and hosted Prime Minister Chrétien in 2002. You met again at the 2002 G8 Summit in Kananaskis and at the Francophonie summits in Beirut and Ouagadougou.

As we are members of the large family of countries that share French as a common language, I would like to extend an invitation to you. July 3, 2008, will mark the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, the cradle of French civilization in North America and a UNESCO world heritage site. Some 50 000 Algerians have settled in Canada, largely in the greater Montreal area, and will no doubt take part in the festivities. We invite you to join us in celebrating this important date in the history of Canada and the Americas.

I also wish to point out that, in recent years, Algeria has supported international initiatives led by Canada, including the signing and ratification of the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Landmines, and even destroyed its remaining stock during a ceremony held in November 2005. Such an indisputable gesture toward world peace is a credit to you.

Canada is also delighted to see Algeria and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation working together to fight terrorism.

Since 2000, the Canadian International Development Agency program in Algeria has intensified. Three key areas of support have been identified: vocational training, local initiatives and civil society. For Canada, economic prosperity is inextricably linked to the promotion of human rights and freedoms.

Which is why over 180 activities supported by the Canadian International Development Agency throughout 80 percent of the country back the day-to-day, constructive efforts of women and men, communities and associations.

And now, if I may, I would like to pay tribute to the women of Algeria. Last year, at the Salon du livre de Montréal, Yasmina Khadra, Algerian author and guest of honour, explained to my fellow Canadians that Algerian women had been [translation] "more courageous than the West itself in standing up to fundamentalism."

As a journalist, it was with great admiration that I watched the women of your country resist. The battle they waged, often risking their lives, in the name of justice and freedom goes well beyond your borders, reaching out to all of humanity itself.

I am deeply moved to be able to stand before you now and honour the infinite generosity and immense courage of my Algerian sisters. These women have shown us that obscurantism cannot prevail. The [translation] "spark of thought," to borrow Senghor's beautiful imagery, that they ignited in our hearts will forever burn like a blaze of hope throughout the world.

I am eagerly looking forward to meeting with your fellow citizens, Excellency. Over the next few days, I will have the privilege of meeting parliamentarians, leaders, artists, women, youth, and entrepreneurs who embody the very best of modern-day Algeria. Know that I will remember each hand held out to me, each look, each word spoken and that I will share them with Canadians.

I feel at home here with you at the gateway to Africa, of which I have dreamed for so long. This journey that I have begun with you is a voyage for the fellowship of mankind. Let us never forget, as Frantz Fanon, my West Indian brother, so eloquently put it, that we have [translation] "but one duty, and that is to never give up our freedom by the choices we make."

Please accept, Excellency, my best wishes for happiness and the assurances of the warm bonds of friendship extended by all Canadians."

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michëlle Jean - Speech on the Occasion of the State Luncheon Hosted by His Excellency Abdelaziz Bouteflika, President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

[Al-khiyal]

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean stops and chats with two children outside their home in the narrow streets of the Casbah as she tours the old part of the city of Algiers during the first part of her state visit to Africa Sunday.

[Al-khiyal]

Touring the Casbah

[Al-khiyal]

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."

Jean becomes Algerian media darling despite side-stepping political questions

[Al-khiyal]

Singer Lynda Thalie and pianist Mehdi Ghazi, Canadian artists of Algerian origin, are accompanying Michaelle Jean in the Canadian delegation.

[Al-khiyal]

Canadian Governor General Michaelle Jean listens to a guide at the Roman Ruins of Tipaza

[Al-khiyal]

ALGIERS, Algeria - Westerners should get rid of their stereotypes of Muslim women as meek and powerless, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean said Wednesday as she lauded women in Islamic countries as "builders and doers."

Jean made the comments at a news conference after visiting a non-profit school for handicapped children run by women, most of whom wore conservative religious head scarves.

She told reporters those same women kept the centre open during Algeria's devastating civil war when Islamic militants threatened teachers and bombs were destroying the surrounding neighbourhood.

She urged Canadians to rethink any stereotypes they might have about Muslim women — even in their own country.

"Look beyond the veil," she said.

"People think maybe they're less enlightened about their rights, their freedoms. It's not true. ... They have ideas, they are builders, they are doers."

Jean also pointed out that she met female cabinet ministers and other leaders of civil society during her stay in Algeria.

Algiers Mayor Mohamed Hadji appeared to support Jean's assessment during the tour of the walled compound that houses the Association Entraide Populaire, an organization that provides apprenticeships in arts and crafts to disabled children.

"See that school over there," said Hadji, pointing at a building just beyond the gates. "They shut that school down for six months (during the civil war.) There were bombs and explosions everywhere."

"They didn't close this one," he said.

But with memories of the civil war still vivid, security at the school remained tight, as it was throughout Jean's visit to Algeria.

When one boy, a Down syndrome child wearing a Fez and traditional clothing, tried to join a similarly dressed female pupil for a photo with the governor general, security patted him down. They found nothing, but yanked him aside anyway. He appeared to be no older then six.

Jean chatted with the children as they painted pictures, weaved baskets and made pottery, and many seemed eager to show her their work. She promised that she would call Canada to tell her own daughter, Marie-Eden, about their accomplishments.

The visit to the school, which has received donations of vehicles as well as computers and other office equipment from the Canadian government, was one of Jean's last duties during her four-day stay in Algeria.

The visit generated huge interest in the Algerian news media and among ordinary Algerians.

Almost everyone seemed aware of her trip, from waitresses in restaurants to old men milling about on the sidewalks.

As with other her other public engagements, crowds gathered outside the school during the tour and waved at the governor general as she departed.

Jean flew on to Mali later Wednesday for the next leg of her five-country African tour.

Canadian Governor General condemns stereotypes of Muslim women