Tourists think Jackson mourned
Published Wednesday July 1st, 2009
OTTAWA - Any number of tourists are guessing the lowered flag on the Peace Tower honours pop singer Michael Jackson, not former governor general Roméo LeBlanc.
"It's depressing," said one tour guide posted on Parliament Hill to direct visitors and field their questions. "Quite a few think it's for Michael Jackson."
"It's a bit sad to think Michael Jackson comes to mind for them and not one of our own past governors general," said Scott Poupart, a miner visiting from Bathurst with his wife Claudette and their sons. "But I'm not surprised.
"Mr. LeBlanc was well known to us in New Brunswick as a great person, but a lot of Canadians don't know our history."
"It speaks to an ignorance of the Canadian parliamentary and political system and of the key honours we use to recognize the life and legacy of someone like Roméo LeBlanc," said Marc Chalifoux, executive director of the Dominion Institute, a non-profit think-tank that promotes Canada's identity.
Hundreds of tourists were milling about Parliament Hill Tuesday as loud sound checks were underway for today's annual televised Canada Day concert.
A person could swivel their head and spot no less than a dozen lowered flags, some on the hill and others atop federal buildings downtown.
LeBlanc, an MP, senator and then the country's first Acadian governor general from 1994 to 1999, was much-admired for his humble approach to high office and, as fisheries minister, fighting for the fisherman.
He died at home last Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 81.
The same day, the Department of Canadian Heritage declared that Canadian flags on all federal buildings across the country, including the iconic Peace Tower, were to fly at half-mast until sunset July 3, the day of LeBlanc's state funeral.
But visitors have to rely on the attention they pay to the news, or on official tour guides, to get an explanation.
One tourist said she asked a security guard protecting the stage set up for the Canada Day concert and was told a Supreme Court judge had died.
Another said she was told "by someone in a uniform" it had to be in honour of another soldier killed in Afghanistan.
Jackson, 50, died Thursday in Los Angeles.
Told that some other visitors thought the flags were lowered for Jackson, many Canadian visitors and tourists from around the world were incredulous.
"Are they Canadians?" asked Stacey Nesmith, from Montreal. "You're joking."
"That's kind of offensive," said Chris Leween from Edmonton.
"Michael Jackson's not Canadian. It would have to be someone in the service of Canada."
Pim Teeuwise, from Alphen-aan-de-Rijn, the Netherlands, spotted the lowered flag right away and asked about it.
"I knew the whole country is crazy for Michael Jackson but I thought, no way, tell me it's not for him," he said.
Husband-and-wife middle school teachers who'd come from Phoenix, Arizona "knew it couldn't be Michael Jackson," said the husband, Justin Sponsler. "It had to be a government figure."
"It's sad people don't know it's for a governor general," said Craig Kamcke of Whitby, Ont.
"We're overwhelmed by the American presence."
Flying national flags at half-mast is known worldwide as a distinct honour and an expression of collective sorrow.
Under Canadian rules, those whose deaths qualify include the Queen and the heir to the throne, current and former prime ministers, current and former governors general and current cabinet ministers and the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Notwithstanding the rules, the flag is to be raised to full mast on Canada Day.
Inside the Centre Block rotunda, under the Peace Tower, an honour guard stood near four books of condolence for LeBlanc.
One was set on a table near his official portrait, which was unveiled after he had been speaker of the Senate.
The dozens of pages included heartfelt tributes from people who knew LeBlanc and many more who knew him only by reputation.
Wrote one member of the Senate security force: "Today I am assigned to your vigil.
"I am doing it with integrity and simplicity, like the man you were."
"Thank you for being such a great example to the Acadian people," Carol Poirier of Shediac River wrote in French.
"He was a wonderful, loving, gentle leader," wrote Katie Zeman-Maitland, a former guide at Rideau Hall, the official residence of governors general.
Chalifoux said LeBlanc's state funeral on Friday is an opportunity for much-needed public education.
"This should be a national event and that makes it a chance to talk about his life, and about what the offices he held mean," he said.
Other books of condolence are available at Rideau Hall, at the Citadel in Quebec City and at the Memramcook Institute chapel.
The government has also created a website at www.commemoration.gc.ca to allow Canadians to post messages of sympathy that will be printed and sent to the family.
The family has asked that persons wishing to make a donation in LeBlanc's memory contribute to the Romeo LeBlanc Scholarship Fund at the Université de Moncton.
That can be done online at www.umoncton.ca/anciensetamis and clicking on pour faire un don.
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