FREE ESSAY ON ADRIENNE CLARKSON

ADRIENNE CLARKSON

"The wonderful thing about being Canadian is that despite
our blemished history, we have shown we are capable of 
change. Attitudes in Canada don't stay entrenched."
(Adrienne Clarkson)
Her appointment was called a "reflection of the diversity and inclusiveness of our
society." Like sunlight through a window, Adrienne Clarkson has smoothly transcended the
shadows of the cold, hardlined, 1940s Canada she was raised in, only to lead Canadian
diversity into the third millennium. Nearly denied entry into Canada because of a law
prohibiting Chinese entry into Canada, Clarkson has become the epitome of the successful
Canadian immigrant. With the firing of artillery salutes and a flypast of CF-18 fighter
jets, Mme Clarkson was installed as Canada's 26th Governor General and Commander-in-Chief
in a Parliament Hill Ceremony on October 7, 1999, becoming the first visible minority and
first immigrant to be appointed to the Vice Regal post. Stressing a sense of forgiveness
and wholeness as characteristics of Canada, the new Governor General mentioned Grand
Chief John Kelly's view of the circle of the Ojibway expanding as Canadians of diverse
backgrounds entered it. Her Excellency continued by suggesting "That the aboriginal
circle enlarges to include all of us native and immigrant arriving by boat and plane to a
vast and beautiful land..." Known for her outspokenness on issues such as cultural
nationalism, Clarkson is only the second woman to be named Governor General and the first
in twenty years to come from outside political ranks. Clarkson brings to the forefront a
strong sense of nationalism, and personal pride in her own ethnicity. Her Canada is
encompassing of Aboriginals and immigrants, English and French, East and West, and not
only praises their contributions to Canada as a multiethnic society, but is
representative of each and every one. Most importantly, she is the truest example of the
cultural diversity of her adopted Canada, on both national and individual levels. Through
her significant achievements in her journalistic career, Clarkson has been unwavering her
determinism to build cultural awareness in Canada. Clarkson exemplifies Canadians,
encourages acceptance of all peoples, and as a political figure, will continue to affect
change encourage progress and celebration of Canada's diverse ethnocultural society. 
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